Since the 1950s, the global production of plastics has been increasing year by year, and more than 40% of plastics are used as disposable packaging, generating a large amount of plastic waste. Plastic waste that is not biodegradable is subjected to mechanical abrasion, photo-oxidation, etc., and degrades into plastic particles with a diameter of less than 5 millimeters.
The concept of microplastics was introduced as early as 2004 by Prof. Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth, UK, when he published the article “Lost at Sea: Where Is All the Plastic?” in Science and defined the term "Microplastics are defined as plastic fragments and particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter.
Since then, scientists have never stopped studying microplastics, and their conclusions are alarming; the fragmentation of plastic polymers does not stop at the micron level, and nanoplastics below 1 μm are the smallest known microplastics. These microplastics have entered the human body through the food chain (fish, vegetables, salt) ingestion, air inhalation and cosmetic skin contact.
Microplastics found in 100% of male testicles
In May 2024, a team of researchers from Professor Xiaozhong Yu at the University of New Mexico analyzed 47 canine testes and 23 human testes and found that microplastics were present in all analyzed canine and human testes, with a 100% detection rate in the analyzed samples. The average microplastic concentration in canine testes was 122.63 micrograms per gram, and the average microplastic concentration in human testes was 328.44 micrograms per gram, with almost three times as many microplastics in human testes as in dogs. Of these, the most common was polyethylene (plastic bags and bottles), and the study highlights the prevalence of microplastics in the human testis, which has heightened concerns about the possible effects of microplastics on human reproductive health.
Microplastics in placenta detected in up to 100% of cases
In October 2020, a research paper appeared in the journal Environment International in which scientists discovered the presence of microplastic particles in the human placenta for the first time. The researchers collected placentas from six healthy mothers with normal pregnancies in a plastic-free environment and ultimately detected 12 microplastic particles ranging in size from 5 to 10 micrometers in four placentas using Raman microspectroscopy. These particles were located on the fetal side of the placenta, the maternal side, and in the amniotic membrane where the fetus develops, meaning that microplastic fragments were present in all parts of the placenta.
In February 2024, Dr. Matthew Campen of the University of New Mexico, USA, published a study in Toxicological Sciences showing that microplastics were detected in 100% of 62 placenta samples subjected to measurements, at concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue, with a mean value of 126.8 ± 147.5 µg/g. The most common polymer in placental tissue was polyethylene (PE), which accounted for 54% of the total microplastics, with a mean concentration of 68.8 ± 93.2 µg/g, while PVC and nylon each accounted for 10%.
Microplastics found in human breast milk
In June 2022, researchers at the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy recruited breast milk samples from 34 women, all of whom had just given birth a week earlier and were in good health, and microplastics were detected in 75 percent of the samples, according to a study published in the British chemistry journal POLYMER.
Microplastics have invaded the human heart
2023 Researchers at China's Capital Medical University detected microplastic particles ranging from 20-469 μm in diameter in five different types of tissue collected from the heart, including the pericardium, epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), pericardial adipose tissue (PAT), myocardium, and left auricle (LAA).
Microplastics found in human blood for the first time
In a recent study in Environment International, March 2022, a team of researchers led from the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands found microplastics in the blood of human volunteers for the first time.Of 22 samples from healthy donors, 17 (77%) subjects were found to have plastic particles in their blood, making it the first evidence that the material might end up in human blood. This further raises concerns about the long-term effects of microplastics on human health.
Microplastics first found in human blood clots
In a paper published in the September 2022 issue of the international academic journal Journal of Advanced Research, Prof. Yankai Xia's team at Nanjing Medical University, in conjunction with Prof. Yongming Luo's team at the Nanjing Institute of Soil Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found for the first time a certain number and different types of microplastics and dye particles in human blood clot samples. “We believe that environmental factors, especially microplastics and dye particles, may be potentially associated with the formation of blood clots.” Xia Yankai, corresponding author of the paper, said in an interview on September 29th.
Microplastics found in human lungs
In a study completed in April 2022 at the York Medical School in Hull, UK, researchers found microplastics for the first time deep in the lungs of living people. The study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, is the first robust study to identify plastics in the lungs of living humans. “Microplastics have been found in human autopsy samples before - but this is the first robust study showing microplastics in the lungs of living people.” Dr. Laura Sadofsky, Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine and lead author of the paper, said, “The airways in the lungs are very narrow, so no one thought they might get there, but they clearly have.”
There is a wide range of microplastics detected in the environment today, mainly polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyester (PES) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). And a WWF report predicts that plastic pollution in the world's oceans will quadruple by 2050.
In order to avoid human organs into “plastic products”, the simplest way is to - try to reduce the use of plastic products in life and timely treatment of plastic pollution, do not let the earth was plastic “attacked! "and then regret too late.
