Micro/Nano Size Plastic Particles Detected in Human Blood

The abstract of a March 24, 2022 Environment International article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258 by researchers with Netherlands Vrije Universiteit and Amsterdam University Medical Center reports that “… Plastic particles are ubiquitous pollutants in the living environment and food chain but no study to date has reported on the internal exposure of plastic particles in human blood. This study’s goal was to develop a robust and sensitive sampling and analytical method … and apply it to measure plastic particles ≥700 nm in human whole blood from 22 healthy volunteers. Four high production volume polymers … were identified and quantified ... Polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polymers of styrene … were the most widely encountered, followed by poly(methyl methylacrylate) ... This pioneering human biomonitoring study demonstrated that plastic particles are bioavailable for uptake into the human bloodstream. An understanding of the exposure of these substances in humans and the associated hazard of such exposure is needed to determine whether or not plastic particle exposure is a public health risk …” #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic #MicroPlastic #Nanoplastic @VUamsterdam