Plastic
What harm , if any , does plastic waste cause to human health ?
Scientists have announced they have found tiny plastic particles in living humans , in two places where they hadn ’ t been seen before : deep inside the lungs of surgical patients , and in the blood of anonymous donors . Neither of two studies answered the question of possible harm . But together they signalled a shift in the focus of concern about plastics toward the cloud of airborne dust particles we live in , some of them so small they can penetrate deep inside the body and even inside cells , in ways that larger microplastics can ’ t .
Microplastics are in salt , beer , fresh fruit and vegetables , and drinking water . Additives can also leach into water , and one study found that up to 88 percent could leach , depending on factors that include sunlight and length of time .
A biochemist who studies how dust transports nutrients , pathogens , and contaminants , says she is concerned because plastic production continues to increase dramatically , while so much about microplastics remains unknown . In 2020 , 367 million metric tons of plastics were manufactured , an amount that is forecast to triple by 2050 .
The topic is so complicated and controversial that even the definition of harm comes up for debate at times . Should we only worry about the effects of microplastics on human health ? What about the harm they might do to animals and ecosystems ?
Although toxins from plastics can cause adverse health effects in birds , an Australian study in 2019 , in which Japanese quail chicks were deliberately fed such toxins , found the opposite : The chicks suffered minor delays in growth and maturation , but weren ’ t more likely than unexposed chicks to get sick , die , or have trouble reproducing . The findings surprised the scientists , who called them the “ first experimental evidence ” that the toxicological and endocrine effects “ may not be as severe as feared for the millions of birds ” carrying small loads of plastics in their stomachs .
In laboratory tests , microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells , including both allergic reactions and cell death . But so far there have been no epidemiologic studies documenting , in a large group of people , a connection between exposure to microplastics and impacts on health .
A recent study found plastics in the blood of 17 of 22 healthy blood do-
St Margaret ’ s News 10 December 2022