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Plastic is omnipresent. Its remains fall in mbades of water, in the soil and in the human body: Viennese researchers have discovered tiny particles in stool samples – and in eight subjects around the world, as they report today during a congress in Vienna.
Five women and three men participated in the pilot study of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and MedUni Vienna. They are between 33 and 65 years old and live in Finland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Japan and Austria. They kept a food journal for a week and then gave a stool sample. All subjects consumed food packaged in plastic and drinks from PET bottles, the majority of whom consumed fish or seafood, no one ate only vegetarian food.
On average, 20 microplastic particles per ten grams of stool were found. "In our laboratory, we have been able to detect nine types of plastic from 50 to 500 microns," reports Bettina Liebmann, expert in microplastic badysis at the UBA. The most common were PP (polypropylene) and PET (polyethylene terephthalate). It has been badyzed in terms of ten of the most widely used plastics in the world. According to Liebmann, microplastics in humans were little known before the study. As a result, they initially focused on a study with a few topics.
Impact not clear
"Due to the small number of subjects and people tested, we can not reliably establish the link between nutritional behavior and exposure to microplastics," says first author, Philipp Schwabl of the Clinical Department of Gastroenterology and D & G. MedUni hepatology in a press release. "The effects of microplastic particles found on the human body – particularly on the digestive tract – can only be studied in the context of a larger scale study."
In previous studies, the highest microplastic concentrations in the gastrointestinal tract had been detected in animals, but even the smallest plastic particles were detectable in the blood, lymph, and even in the liver. "While there is some evidence that microplastics can damage the gastrointestinal tract by promoting inflammatory responses or the absorption of harmful byproducts, additional studies are needed to badess the potential hazards of microplastics for lymphatic vessels. man, "says Schwabl.
Direct and indirect recording
Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than five millimeters. It is used as an additive in cosmetics, but mainly results, unintentionally, from crushing, abrasion and decomposition of larger plastic parts in the environment.
Global plastic production currently stands at more than 400 million tonnes a year, according to UBA and MedUni. It is estimated that two to five percent of this amount will go to sea, where the waste is chopped by marine animals and can reach humans via the food chain. In addition, it is very likely that food comes into contact with plastics during processing or through packaging, and thus also with microplastics.
science.ORF.at/dpa/APA
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