plastics

For the first time it has been confirmed by the scientists that human are eating plastic and are polluted with it.

To estimate how much plastic we eat and drink in our daily lives. Tiny pieces were found in samples from every participant involved in the experiment. Till today most of the reaerches were focused mostly on the natural world. However for the first time this new study reveals that the humans are also consuming plastic, while some of them potentially lodging in our bodies.

The study showed that mostly the sources can be from the fish we eat the plastic bottled water, as the researchers spoke with a surprise for such results.

Lead researcher Dr Philipp Schwabl said: ‘This is the first study of its kind and confirms what we have long suspected – that plastics ultimately reach the human gut. Of particular concern is what this means to us, and especially patients with gastrointestinal diseases. The smallest microplastic particles are capable of entering the bloodstream and lymphatic system and may even reach the liver. Now that we have first evidence for microplastics inside humans, we need further research to understand what this means for human health.’

Researchers from the university and the Environment Agency Austria monitored participants from the UK, Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Austria.

The results showed every sample tested positive for the presence of microplastics – with up to nine different types identified. The most common plastics were polypropylene and polyethylene-terephthalate (PET). Both are commonly found in food and drink packaging.

The research was a pilot study involving eight participants. Each one kept a food diary for a week before their samples were analysed in the laboratory. The diaries showed all the participants had eaten food wrapped in plastic or drunk from plastic bottles. None of the participants was a vegetarian and six of them ate sea fish.

The microplastics found were between 50 and 500 micrometres in size. A human hair has a thickness of between 17 and 181 micrometres.

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