Up to 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans every year. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a specialist in plastic waste research, if current patterns of plastic production and consumption remain, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.
This estimate indicates that approximately 99% of birds will have ingested plastic. Marine litter will harm 600 marine species. 15% of species affected by ingestion and entanglement with plastic marine litter will be in danger of extinction.
300 million tons of plastic waste are generated annually. Plastic bags have been found on the summit of Mount Everest, polar ice caps and deeper places in the ocean. Plastic bags are mistaken for jellyfish or other food by marine fauna. In June 2018, a dead sperm whale appeared on the coast of Spain, 32 kilos of plastic bags, nets and a drum were found inside it. Globally, 50% of all plastic waste is single-use plastics.
In this context, hundreds of investigations hovered around the problem of plastic pollution and its effects on everyday life, however, a new study led by professionals from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom and published in Science of The Total Environment, analyzed samples of human lung tissue to detect and characterize any microplastics present and found 39 microplastics in total within 11 of the 13 lung tissue samples. Of those detected, 12 types of polymers were identified, the most abundant of which were polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, PET and resin.
Microplastics have been sampled in the air around the world and their concentration is known to increase in areas of high human activity, especially indoors. Scientific research had to discover whether microplastics in the environment can be inhaled, deposited and accumulated within human lungs, and new research suggests that microplastics can be inhaled.
In the past, respiratory symptoms and diseases were reported following exposure to occupational levels of microplastics within industrial settings. A previous investigation resulted in the detection of microplastics in human blood for the first time in March, showing that particles can be lodged in different parts of the body. The health impacts of inhaling microplastics are not yet known, but scientists are concerned that air pollution particles are already known to cause a variety of serious health problems and millions of premature deaths annually.
Laura Sadofsky, lead author of the article, said: “We didn't expect to find the most particles in the lower regions of the lungs, or particles of the sizes we located. This is surprising since the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungs and we would have expected those of these sizes to be filtered or trapped before they got that deep into the organs.”
This study by scientists at the University of Hull recorded high levels of atmospheric microplastics during a one-year study at a site near a busy route. The researchers found that the most abundant microplastics came from degraded plastic packaging or bags; and nylon, which may be from clothing; as well as resins, which could come from degraded roads, paint marks or tire rubber. Scientists also found microplastics the size and shape that humans can inhale.
Lauren Jenner, another lead author and graduate student at Hull York School of Medicine, stated that “this study underscores that microplastics are everywhere. It shows that they are present at high levels in selected outdoor areas and that the levels may be higher than indoors. It is vital that we now investigate the outdoor environments to which humans are regularly exposed to in order to discover the levels of exposure and the types of microplastics present.”
Inhalation of microplastics is an emerging cause for concern as is known from recent studies that have been observed in samples of human lung tissue. Plastics are designed to be durable, so they can stay inside the body for long periods without the possibility of them being broken down or eliminated. “These findings can now be part of future work to help determine any health impacts, allowing us to use representative types and realistic exposure levels of such microplastics in additional cellular studies,” Jenner concludes.
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