In the last decade we’ve seen studies unearth plastic pollution in some unexpected places, from the Arctic, to the Antarctic, and the world’s tallest mountain in between. More recently, we’ve seen some scientists focus the search on the human body, which also continues to surprise and alarm with the whereabouts of omnipresent plastic particles. A new study has now revealed microplastics in living lung tissue for the first time, with scientists now looking to explore exactly what that means for respiratory health.

While pollution like plastic bags and soda bottles is an obvious environmental problem, much of the concern around the dangers of plastics to human health are tied to their tendency to break down into small fragments. These microplastics and nanoplastics, which can measure as small as 0.0001 mm in the case of the latter, are very difficult to trace. And studies have begun to show that they are clearly making their way into the human body.

A 2020 paper examining tissues form the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys found plastics in all samples studied. Another study published back in 2018 found microplastics in human stool samples collected from all around the world. More recently, a study published last month detected plastic particles in the bloodstream for the first time ever.

This new study was carried out by scientists at the University of Hull and sought to build on previous work that identified microplastics in lung tissue, by sourcing tissue during surgical procedures on living patients. Analysis revealed plastics in 11 of the 13 samples studied, and detected 12 different types, including those typically used in packaging, bottles and clothing.

Male samples presented significantly higher levels of microplastics than female samples. But what really surprised the scientists was where these plastics were turning up, with more than half found in the lower part of the lung.

“We did not expect to find the highest number of particles in the lower regions of the lungs, or particles of the sizes we found,” said lead author Laura Sadofsky. “This is surprising as the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungs and we would have expected particles of these sizes to be filtered out or trapped before getting this deep into the lungs.”

Scientists consider airborne plastic particles between 1 nanometer and 20 micrometers to be respirable, and this study provides yet more evidence that inhalation offers them a direct route into the human body. As with similar recent discoveries in this area, it raises the all-important question of what the impacts are on human health? Lab experiments have shown that microplastics can de-cluster and alter the shape of human lung cells, and have toxic effects on cells more generally. But this new understanding of the situation will help guide deeper research into their effects.

“Microplastics have previously been found in human cadaver autopsy samples – this is the first robust study to show microplastics in lungs from live people,” said Sadofsky. “It also shows that they are in the lower parts of the lung. Lung airways are very narrow so no one thought they could possibly get there, but they clearly have. The characterization of types and levels of microplastics we have found can now inform realistic conditions for laboratory exposure experiments with the aim of determining health impacts.”

https://newatlas.com/medical/plastic-particles-discovered-deep-lungs/

PermeateFree said:

In the last decade we’ve seen studies unearth plastic pollution in some unexpected places, from the Arctic, to the Antarctic, and the world’s tallest mountain in between. More recently, we’ve seen some scientists focus the search on the human body, which also continues to surprise and alarm with the whereabouts of omnipresent plastic particles. A new study has now revealed microplastics in living lung tissue for the first time, with scientists now looking to explore exactly what that means for respiratory health.

While pollution like plastic bags and soda bottles is an obvious environmental problem, much of the concern around the dangers of plastics to human health are tied to their tendency to break down into small fragments. These microplastics and nanoplastics, which can measure as small as 0.0001 mm in the case of the latter, are very difficult to trace. And studies have begun to show that they are clearly making their way into the human body.

A 2020 paper examining tissues form the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys found plastics in all samples studied. Another study published back in 2018 found microplastics in human stool samples collected from all around the world. More recently, a study published last month detected plastic particles in the bloodstream for the first time ever.

This new study was carried out by scientists at the University of Hull and sought to build on previous work that identified microplastics in lung tissue, by sourcing tissue during surgical procedures on living patients. Analysis revealed plastics in 11 of the 13 samples studied, and detected 12 different types, including those typically used in packaging, bottles and clothing.

Male samples presented significantly higher levels of microplastics than female samples. But what really surprised the scientists was where these plastics were turning up, with more than half found in the lower part of the lung.

“We did not expect to find the highest number of particles in the lower regions of the lungs, or particles of the sizes we found,” said lead author Laura Sadofsky. “This is surprising as the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungs and we would have expected particles of these sizes to be filtered out or trapped before getting this deep into the lungs.”

Scientists consider airborne plastic particles between 1 nanometer and 20 micrometers to be respirable, and this study provides yet more evidence that inhalation offers them a direct route into the human body. As with similar recent discoveries in this area, it raises the all-important question of what the impacts are on human health? Lab experiments have shown that microplastics can de-cluster and alter the shape of human lung cells, and have toxic effects on cells more generally. But this new understanding of the situation will help guide deeper research into their effects.

“Microplastics have previously been found in human cadaver autopsy samples – this is the first robust study to show microplastics in lungs from live people,” said Sadofsky. “It also shows that they are in the lower parts of the lung. Lung airways are very narrow so no one thought they could possibly get there, but they clearly have. The characterization of types and levels of microplastics we have found can now inform realistic conditions for laboratory exposure experiments with the aim of determining health impacts.”

https://newatlas.com/medical/plastic-particles-discovered-deep-lungs/

I wonder if plastic proves to be more harmful than asbestos in our future?

monkey skipper said:

I wonder if plastic proves to be more harmful than asbestos in our future?

PMSL LOL.

mollwollfumble said:

monkey skipper said:

I wonder if plastic proves to be more harmful than asbestos in our future?

PMSL LOL.

Your lobotomy playing up again moll?

And where do you find these microplastics?

>>First microplastics discovered in freshly fallen Antarctic snow

The ongoing discovery of microplastics in remote, seemingly pristine corners of the world continues to add important detail to a troubling picture of widespread pollution, and the latest finding takes the threat into new terrain. In freshly fallen snow in the Antarctic scientists have uncovered the first evidence of microplastics, which presented in even higher concentrations than previously reported in the surrounding seas.

As scientists expand the scope of their studies into the spread of plastic waste, tiny fragments of the material continue to turn up in all kinds of places, some more surprising than others. The breakdown of things like shopping bags and soda bottles is a well-known source of microplastic pollution in the ocean, but these have recently been found to get swept up with the wind, reach the upper parts of Mt Everest, build up in Arctic sea ice and snow, and accumulate in the agricultural soils of Europe.

When University of Canterbury PhD student Alex Aves set out on a research expedition to Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2019, her colleagues didn’t see the discovery of microplastics in the area as a strong possibility.

“When Alex traveled to Antarctica in 2019, we were optimistic that she wouldn’t find any microplastics in such a pristine and remote location,” said Associate Professor in Environmental Physics Dr Laura Revell. “We asked her to collect snow off the Scott Base and McMurdo Station roadways, so she’d have at least some microplastics to study.”

Alex Aves in Antarctica, 2019

Upon her return to the lab with snow samples in tow, the team analyzed them with a technique called micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and found some depressing surprises. These inspections indeed revealed microplastics in the snow samples from the Ross Ice Shelf, and in every one of the samples collected at all sites throughout the expedition.

“It’s incredibly sad but finding microplastics in fresh Antarctic snow highlights the extent of plastic pollution into even the most remote regions of the world,” said Aves. “We collected snow samples from 19 sites across the Ross Island region of Antarctica and found microplastics in all of these.”

The researchers found an average of 29 microplastic particles per liter of snow, which they note is a higher concentration than previously reported in the surrounding Ross Sea and Antarctic sea ice. In samples collected around the research bases, the concentration was three times higher. Thirteen different types of plastic were found in the samples, with the PET used in soda bottles and clothing the most common.

“Looking back now, I’m not at all surprised,” said Revell. “From the studies published in the last few years we’ve learned that everywhere we look for airborne microplastics, we find them.”

While we have much to learn about the dangers of microplastic contamination, early studies have highlighted some concerning possibilities. These include impairing growth, reproduction and cognitive ability in marine organisms, inducing toxic effects on human cells, and potential links to high cholesterol and heart disease. The spread of microplastics into Antarctic snowfall indicates it’s nigh-on impossible to avoid such dangers, no matter where you are.

“Whilst research around the impacts of nano- and microplastics is still in its infancy, they are being seen to affect organisms and ecosystems in a variety of ways,” said Dr Olga Pantos, Senior Scientist at New Zealand’s Institute of Environmental Science and Research. “It is therefore of concern that yet another remote ecosystem is exposed to more impacts resulting from human activity.”

The research was published in the journal The Cryosphere.

Sources: University of Canterbury, Scimex

https://newatlas.com/environment/first-microplastics-discovered-antarctica-snow/

PermeateFree said:

And where do you find these microplastics?

>>First microplastics discovered in freshly fallen Antarctic snow

The ongoing discovery of microplastics in remote, seemingly pristine corners of the world continues to add important detail to a troubling picture of widespread pollution, and the latest finding takes the threat into new terrain. In freshly fallen snow in the Antarctic scientists have uncovered the first evidence of microplastics, which presented in even higher concentrations than previously reported in the surrounding seas.

As scientists expand the scope of their studies into the spread of plastic waste, tiny fragments of the material continue to turn up in all kinds of places, some more surprising than others. The breakdown of things like shopping bags and soda bottles is a well-known source of microplastic pollution in the ocean, but these have recently been found to get swept up with the wind, reach the upper parts of Mt Everest, build up in Arctic sea ice and snow, and accumulate in the agricultural soils of Europe.

When University of Canterbury PhD student Alex Aves set out on a research expedition to Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2019, her colleagues didn’t see the discovery of microplastics in the area as a strong possibility.

“When Alex traveled to Antarctica in 2019, we were optimistic that she wouldn’t find any microplastics in such a pristine and remote location,” said Associate Professor in Environmental Physics Dr Laura Revell. “We asked her to collect snow off the Scott Base and McMurdo Station roadways, so she’d have at least some microplastics to study.”

Alex Aves in Antarctica, 2019

Upon her return to the lab with snow samples in tow, the team analyzed them with a technique called micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and found some depressing surprises. These inspections indeed revealed microplastics in the snow samples from the Ross Ice Shelf, and in every one of the samples collected at all sites throughout the expedition.

“It’s incredibly sad but finding microplastics in fresh Antarctic snow highlights the extent of plastic pollution into even the most remote regions of the world,” said Aves. “We collected snow samples from 19 sites across the Ross Island region of Antarctica and found microplastics in all of these.”

The researchers found an average of 29 microplastic particles per liter of snow, which they note is a higher concentration than previously reported in the surrounding Ross Sea and Antarctic sea ice. In samples collected around the research bases, the concentration was three times higher. Thirteen different types of plastic were found in the samples, with the PET used in soda bottles and clothing the most common.

“Looking back now, I’m not at all surprised,” said Revell. “From the studies published in the last few years we’ve learned that everywhere we look for airborne microplastics, we find them.”

While we have much to learn about the dangers of microplastic contamination, early studies have highlighted some concerning possibilities. These include impairing growth, reproduction and cognitive ability in marine organisms, inducing toxic effects on human cells, and potential links to high cholesterol and heart disease. The spread of microplastics into Antarctic snowfall indicates it’s nigh-on impossible to avoid such dangers, no matter where you are.

“Whilst research around the impacts of nano- and microplastics is still in its infancy, they are being seen to affect organisms and ecosystems in a variety of ways,” said Dr Olga Pantos, Senior Scientist at New Zealand’s Institute of Environmental Science and Research. “It is therefore of concern that yet another remote ecosystem is exposed to more impacts resulting from human activity.”

The research was published in the journal The Cryosphere.

Sources: University of Canterbury, Scimex

https://newatlas.com/environment/first-microplastics-discovered-antarctica-snow/

Bugger.

:(