It's Official, Microplastics Were Found Circulating in Human Blood For The First Time

Many of us have plastic in our veins.

The results of the latest study looking for microplastic pollutants in human tissues shouldn't come as a surprise. From the highest of mountains down to our most intimate organs, no place on Earth is free of the fog.

Knowing how much plastic waste has become an ecological issue brings a new awareness to it.

Researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University Medical Center analyzed blood samples from healthy anonymous donors for traces of common synthetic polymers larger than 700 nanometers across.

After the team went to great lengths to keep their equipment free of contaminants and test for background levels of plastics, two different methods for identifying the chemical make-up and mass of particles uncovered evidence of several plastic species across 17 of the samples.

The exact combinations varied between samples, but they included the well-known plastic used in clothing and drink bottles, as well as the more obscure plastic used in vehicle parts, carpets, and food containers.

The highest concentration of plastic material was just over 7 micrograms.

Limitations of the testing methods prevented the researchers from giving a precise breakdown of the particle sizes. Smaller particles closer to the 700 nanometer limit would be easier for the body to take in than larger particles.

What this means for our health and wellbeing in the long term is not clear.

On the other hand, we don't know a lot about the effects of tiny plastic materials on our cells. Interpretation of animal studies within a human health context is not straight forward.

The problem of plastic waste entering our oceans is set to double by the year 2040. A greater concentration of microplastics will gradually find its way into our bloodstream as all of those discarded shoes, forks, bread tags, steering wheels and chocolate wrappers break up.

If it is the dose that makes a poison, we might cross a line where relatively harmless traces of styrene and PET could start to have some alarming effects on the way our cells grow. Especially during development.

Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told The Guardian that babies and young children are more vulnerable to chemical and particle exposure.

That worries me a lot.

It's more proof that the dust produced by our synthetic world isn't completely filter by our lungs and gut.

There is a question of whether the plastic is free-floating in the blood or has been eaten by white blood cells. Each scenario has consequences on how particles move about and what bodily systems they might affect.

A lot more research is needed on larger, more diverse groups to understand how microplastics spread and accumulate in humans and how our body eventually discards them.

Environment International published this research.