In our continuing series on microplastics, we ask where do microplastics end up when they get into your body?  They’ve been found in the blood, in blood clots1, breast milk10, semen2, testicles3, lungs7, heart5, liver6, brain9, carotid artery plaques8, and even the placenta4. Research shows that once they’re inside your body, they can cause trouble.  And we don’t have a good way to eliminate these tiny plastic particles once they’re in the bloodstream, but the body tries the only way it knows how. Macrophages eat up the invaders and try to digest them with enzymes but they don’t work on plastics like they do on natural fibers, so the macrophage just hangs on to it and circulates around trying to eat it. It may get eliminated in the stool or urine, but it can also lodge in those organs that I mentioned.  All the while causing inflammation and producing reactive oxygen species trying to oxidize the invader. These particles can cross biological barriers, like the blood-brain barrier, meaning they’re not just floating around—they’re actively disrupting your health. For example, when they’ve been found lodged in plaque11 in the carotid arteries, patients were found to be 4 ½ times more likely to have a cardiac event in the next 3 years.   It’s not just theory—this is happening now.  So this is worthy of your attention.  Follow us to catch the rest of this series of short snippets. Everything you need to know about microplastics but don’t have time to research!  I’ll do it for you.

1. PMID: 38614011

2. PMID: 39342804

3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723013293?via%3Dihub

4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297?via%3Dihub

5. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179

6. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(22)00328-0/fulltext

7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722020009?via%3Dihub

8. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

9. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721058952?via%3Dihub

10. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/13/2700

11. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822