A Dutch study reports, for the first time but with a reduced sample, microplastics in human blood. This discovery raises questions about the possible penetration of these particles into organs.
The authors of this study, published Thursday in Environment International, analyzed blood samples from 22 anonymous donors, all healthy volunteers, and found microplastics in 17. Half of the samples contained traces of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), one of the most widely used plastics in the world, particularly for the manufacture of bottles and polyester fibres. More than a third contained polystyrene, used among other things for food packaging, a quarter of polyethylene.
“This is proof that we have plastics in our bodies”
“For the first time, we were able to detect and quantify” such microplastics in human blood, said Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at the Free University of Amsterdam. “This is proof that we have plastics in our bodies – and we shouldn’t,” he told AFP, calling further research into the possible health impact needed. “Where does it end up in our body? Can this be eliminated? Evacuated? Or is it retained in certain organs, perhaps by accumulating, or even can it pass the blood-brain barrier? he wondered.
According to the study, the microplastics detected could have penetrated the body by many routes, air, water or food, or even hygiene or cosmetic products. “It is scientifically likely that plastic particles can be transported to organs via the blood system,” add its authors. This study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development and Common Seas, a UK-based environmental NGO aiming to reduce plastic pollution.
Unknown long-term consequences
For Alice Horton, a specialist in anthropogenic contaminants from the British Oceanography Centre, “despite the small sample and the low concentrations detected”, the analytical methods of the study are “very robust”. “This study helps prove that plastic particles have not only spread through the environment, but also into our bodies. The long-term consequences are not yet known, ”she commented to the Science Media Center.
If she also noted the limited sample and the lack of data on the degree of exposure of the participants, Fay Couceiro, reader in biogeochemistry and pollution at the University of Portsmouth, considered “solid” the data of this mainly methodological study. . She also saw the need for more research on the subject, including the health implications.