Microplastics spin everywhere, even in human excreta

Microplastics have been found in human stool specimens from countries in many parts of the world, according to a small pilot study presented this week at the 26th annual United Nations Conference on Gastroenterology (19659002) in Vienna. Austria.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Vienna Medical School and the Environment Agency Austria, examined stool samples from eight people in eight different countries: Finland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands , Poland, Russia, United Kingdom and Austria. . All stool samples were tested positive for up to nine different types of plastic, with an average of 20 plastic particles per 10 grams of stool.

"Personally, I did not expect each sample … [test] … to be positive," says Dr. Philipp Schwabl, Principal Investigator at the Vienna Medical University . He and his colleagues discovered that the eight stool samples contained polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate particles, which are major components of plastic caps and plastic bottles. "Is it dangerous for human health? It's a very important issue and we expect further investigations."

In the study, which is the first of its kind, each person followed his usual diet and kept a food diary the week before stool removal. All participants were exposed to plastics by consuming food packaged in plastic as well as drinks in plastic bottles. None of the participants were vegetarians and six of them consumed wild fish.

The problem, according to Scwhabl, is whether microplastics could "enter the bloodstream, the lymphatic system and … even reach the liver". He notes that in animal and fish studies, microplastics have been shown to cause intestinal damage and liver stress.

The world produces 400 tons of plastic a year and 80% is eventually deposited in landfills and other parts of the environment. The smallest particles, microplastics, range from 10 nanometers – so tiny that they are invisible to the human eye – up to 5 millimeters in diameter. Microplastics – including clothing microfibers – float in the air and are found in most of our bottled and tap water, our beer, our sea salt, our mineral salts and our soil.

"This study is brilliant and ingenious," says Shari Mason, a chemist and microplastic expert, from the State University of New York at Fredonia. Mason was not involved in the study. "They definitely established what many of us suspected – we ingest these plastics."

The question now, says Mason, is what is withheld rather than being excreted? And what is its impact?

"According to the scientific literature, anything less than 150 microns, and especially anything less than 50 microns, can migrate through the wall of the intestine and enter the blood cells and organs, "says ecologist Chelsea Rochman of the University of Toronto, who was not involved in the study.

Not only is the potential migration of plastics into our bodies a concern, but additives in these plastics can pose health risks. Many of these additives are known endocrine disruptors. According to Dr. Herbert Tilg, President of the Austrian Society of Gastroenterology and the UEG's Scientific Committee, microplastics could be one of the contributing factors to inflammatory bowel syndrome or even cancer of the gut. colon, increasing in young adults.

"Colon cancer is increasing among young people and we think it is the food or environmental components that play a role," he says. "Now that we know we can detect microplastics in humans, we can develop larger studies, in healthy or sick patients, to determine if they are a contributing factor." Tilg was not involved in this study.

So, how can we minimize our exposure to microplastics? Rochman says for the water, "reverse osmosis filters are beautiful, and we use them in our laboratory". HEPA filters can also clean the air of small particles, she says. Plastic bottles can be avoided, but despite this, plastic packaging and containers are ubiquitous for food; and plastic is everywhere around us.

"Our love story with plastic is so huge," says Mason, "it will take time to change our current situation.People are starting to be interested in truly biodegradable plastics made from hemp or corn starch, and I'm the ultimate solution to this multi-faceted problem. "

Rochman was not surprised that microplastics are found in human stools. "We have mismanaged our rubbish," said Rochman, "and we came back to haunt our table, now we literally eat our own garbage, we can do better than that."

Meanwhile, Schwabl says that he and his colleagues are asking for funding to replicate their initial findings in a larger study.

Jill Neimark is an Atlanta-based writer whose work was featured in . , American Scientist, Science, Nautilus, Aeon, Psychology Today and The New York Times.