Microplastics were discovered for the first time in history in the human heart and its innermost tissues. While the health implications of this are still unknown, the new study serves as another grim reminder of how widespread the world’s plastic problem has become in just a century.
In a new study, scientists at Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China collected heart tissue samples from 15 patients who had heart surgery, as well as blood samples from both pre- and postoperatively. Using a number of different imaging techniques, the team detected tens to thousands of individual microplastic fragments in most tissue samples, according to a press release.
While it was clear that some of the microplastics were there due to surgery, there was evidence of foreign plastics being embedded in tissues even before patients were placed on the operating table.
First, all blood samples contained microplastics. Blood samples taken after surgery had smaller sized microplastics and a wider variety of plastic types. This suggests that some microplastics were added to the body during the operation.
Nine types of plastic in five types of heart tissue
In the tissue samples, the researchers found nine types of plastic in five types of heart tissue. Some of these microplastics were clearly there before any surgery took place.
The team identified microscopic particles of poly(methyl methacrylate), a plastic commonly added as an unbreakable alternative to glass, in the left atrial appendage, epicardial adipose tissue, and pericardial adipose tissue, which they say is “not attributable to accidental exposure during surgery.”
Other types of plastic found in the sample included polyethylene terephthalate, which is commonly used in clothing and food containers, and polyvinyl chloride, which is common in building and construction. “The detection of MPs [microplastics] in vivo is worrisome and further work is needed to explore how MPs enter cardiac tissues and the potential effects of MPs on long-term prognosis after cardiac surgery,” write the study’s authors.
Microplastics have been found in nearly every corner of the Earth’s environment, from ice in Antarctica to snow in the Arctic. There is increasing evidence that microplastics are also becoming more common in the human body. Scientists have discovered that human feces are full of microplastics, suggesting that the material is common in the human gut. There is also evidence of microplastics embedded in many other organs and tissues. The presence of microplastics has even been identified in human placentas.
Not surprisingly, the impact of microplastics on animal health is not widely accepted or fully understood, although evidence is beginning to emerge that it has a detrimental effect.
Still, it’s pretty incredible that they’ve become common, considering that plastic has only been mass-produced for less than a century.
The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
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