According to scientists, microplastic pollution is now ubiquitous throughout the world, making human exposure unavoidable and implying that "there is an increasing concern regarding the hazards" to health.
The average person consumes 74,000 pieces of plastic per year, with unknown health consequences. For the first time, microplastic pollution has been discovered lodged deep within the lungs of living people. The particles were discovered in almost all of the samples examined.
Microplastics were discovered in 11 cases after tissue samples were taken from 13 patients undergoing surgery.
The most common particles were polypropylene, which is used in plastic packaging and pipes, and PET, which is used in bottles. Microplastics were found at similar high rates in lung tissue taken during autopsies in two previous studies.
Research on cadavers and lung cancer samples revealed tiny plastic fibers and flakes, but none of the synthetic polymers were studied.
A dozen polymer types were found to be the most common among the microplastics found in this latest study. Polyethylene, which is used in plastic bags and packaging, resin, which is used in paints, roads, and tires, and nylon, which is used in clothing, were among them.
According to Dr. Laura Sadofsky, a senior lecturer in respiratory medicine and the paper's lead author, "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."
Around 300 million metric tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year, with about 80% of it ending up in landfills and other parts of the environment.
Microplastics range in size from 10 nanometers in diameter (smaller than the human eye can see) to 5 millimeters in diameter (roughly the size of a pencil eraser). The microscopic particles can be found in the air, in tap or bottled water, in the sea, and in the soil.
For decades, it was assumed that only particles with a physical diameter of less than 3 meters could enter the lung's alveolar region. The alveolar duct has a diameter of about 540 meters and a length of 1,410 meters, according to scientific literature.
However, the current study discovered particles with lengths of up to 2,475 meters and widths of up to 88 meters, which they describe as "too large to be present, yet present nonetheless."
The findings suggest that inhalation is a common route for humans to be exposed to microplastics, and that we may be breathing larger particles than previously thought.
