Plastics and Human Health: A Poison Like No Other

 In Death by Plastic: Yet Another Threat to Humanity, a book by Matt Simon, A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies, was discussed.  His findings were a revelation and a warning.  We are terribly wrong if we consider plastics merely as the annoying water bottles that float onto our beaches or are tossed by the side of our roads.  Plastics are structures that, in all their applications, contain thousands of chemicals, many of which are considered dangerous.  They are not rigid structures that last forever.  They continually break down into smaller structures, emitting some of their chemicals at each fracture.  The quickest way to ingest plastics and their chemicals into your body is to take a drink from one of those plastic bottles.  If the particles are small enough, they can pass from the digestive system into the blood stream and onward to our organs, bringing their chemicals with them.  Perhaps we are putting our infants at greatest risk by feeding them milk or formula in plastic bottles with plastic nipples to suck on.

Plastic particulates are everywhere, from the highest mountain top to the deepest ocean beds.  Every time we wash our plastic clothes, we generate trillions of nanofibers that enter our water systems.  Every time we drive our cars we generate massive amounts of plastic particulates from the tires.  When it rains, some of these particulates that are not circling the globe in the atmosphere also wash into our waterways.  So many particulates have been added that our waterways are now a significant source of airborne plastic pollution.  That pleasant ocean breeze that we enjoy is bringing plastics into our respiratory system.  If plastic particles are small enough, they and their chemicals can enter our blood stream through our lungs. 

Most people who hear these facts get extremely worried, but then ask, “if this is such a dangerous situation, where are all the sick people?”  The answer that could be given is that the problem has only recently been realized and it takes time for the evidence to appear.  We can perform experiments on animals which demonstrate the threats that arise, but with humans we must wait until, for some, it is too late.  A recent journal article presents some evidence of why we must be concerned.  The findings are summarized in Microplastics may be new risk factor for cardiovascular disease, researchers say.  Here is the main conclusion.

“…an international team of physicians and researchers showed that surgical patients who had a build-up of micro and nanoplastics in their arterial plaque had a 2.1 times greater risk of nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke or death from any cause in the three years post surgery than those who did not.”

Here are the details. 

“The 257 patients who completed the study all had asymptomatic extracranial high-grade internal carotid artery stenosis — in other words, their carotid arteries were blocked with plaque. The patients underwent carotid endarterectomies, a procedure in which the artery is opened and the plaque is cleaned out. Patients who’d had previous heart failure, valvular defects, cancer or other causes of hypertension were disqualified.”

“The researchers then examined the plaque and found polyethylene micro- and nano- particles in 150 of the patients. Thirty patients had polyvinyl chloride particles in their plaque. Images from electron microscopy showed visible, jagged-edged ‘foreign bodies’ along with the biological plaque in these patients.”

“Polythylene, or PET, is the plastic used to make soda and water bottles. Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is the plastic used in water pipes, packaging, medical devices, toothbrushes, children’s toys and window frames, to name a few.’

“The two patient populations were roughly the same in terms of age, sex, weight, smoking status, geographical location, blood pressure and heart rate.”

“The one glaring difference, the authors noted, was the two groups’ susceptibility to heart disease in the months following the surgery — an indication that the presence of microplastics may have played a role. Indeed, indicators of inflammation were higher in the plastic-exposed group. Nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke, or death from any cause occurred in eight of the 107 patients who did not have microplastics in their plaque and 30 of the 150 patients with microplastics.”

This study cannot explain the causes of the results, both plastic particles and plastic chemicals were present.  Either, or both, could be at work here.  But the first shoe has fallen.  There will be more to come.

You can learn a little about a lot of things or you can learn a lot about a very few things. Guess which is the most fun.