In recent years, a growing body of research has highlighted the ability of plastic particles to infiltrate the human body. Based on analyzes of living lung tissue, the latest findings show that they can also nest deep in our airways.
Fragments present in 11 of the 13 samples studied
A major environmental problem, plastic pollution also poses a potential hazard to human health, due to the tendency of this type of material to break down into tiny fragments that can measure up to 0.0001 mm in diameter. Just weeks after the discovery of microplastics in the human bloodstream, researchers from theuniversity of hull have identified such particles in the lung tissue of living people, removed during surgical procedures.
Their analysis revealed their presence in 11 of the 13 samples studied, and allowed the identification of 12 different types of plastics, generally used in packaging, bottles and clothing. While it also turned out that men had significantly more plastic particles in their lungs than women, the most surprising thing was probably where most of these fragments were discovered: more than 50 % of them were in the lower part of the lungs.
” We did not expect to find the majority of particles in the lower regions of the lungs, nor particles the size of those we found [jusqu’à 0,003 millimètre] “, highlighted Laura Sadofskylead author of the study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. ” Since the airways are narrower in the lower parts of the lungs, we thought that particles of these sizes would be filtered or trapped before they could reach them.. »
A solid framework for laboratory experiments to determine the impact of microplastics on health
Scientists consider airborne plastic particles between 1 nanometer and 20 micrometers in size to be respirable, and this study provides further evidence that inhalation allows them to penetrate deep into our bodies.
” Microplastics had previously been found in autopsy samples from human cadavers, but this is the first rigorous study to show microplastics in the lungs of living people “, remember Sadofsky. ” Characterization of the types and levels of microplastics we have identified provides a solid framework for laboratory exposure experiments to determine the health impact of these particles.. »
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