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Microplastics, tiny plastic pieces less that 5mm in size, are everywhere. They can be found in indoor dust, food, and bottled water. It's no surprise that scientists have found these particles in the feces both of humans and animals. Researchers from ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters found that infants had higher levels of one type microplastic than adults in a pilot study. The health effects of microplastics on the body, if any are, are not known.
We don't know much about the health effects of microplastics and how large they can be exposed to humans. Microplastics were thought to pass through the stomach and leave the body. However, recent research suggests that even the smallest pieces may cross cell membranes and enter circulation. Microplastics can cause cell death, inflammation, and metabolic disorders in cells and animals. Kurunthachalam Kannan at the New York University School of Medicine and colleagues wanted to assess human exposure to two common microplasticspolyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC)by measuring levels in infant and adult feces.
Mass spectrometry was used by the researchers to determine the levels of PC and PET microplastics in six infant feces samples and 10 adult feces samples from New York. Three meconium samples were also taken. All of the samples contained at most one type or another microplastic. Although the average levels of PC microplastics in feces were comparable between adults and babies, the average PET concentrations in infant stool was more than 10 times that of adults.
Researchers believe infants may be exposed to greater levels of microplastics due to their frequent use of toys, teethers, and bottles. These findings need to be confirmed by larger studies, however.
Learn more Estimating lifetime exposure to microplastics
More information: Occurrences of Polyethylene Terephthalate, and Polycarbonate microplastics in Infant Feces, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2021). Information from the Journal: Environmental Science & Technology Letters Occurrence Polyethylene Terephthalate, and Polycarbonate microplastics in Infant Feces (2021). pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559
