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NEW YORK – We know almost nothing about the health effects of something that most of us probably eat every day: plastic.
Scientists last month announced the first preliminary evidence that small pieces of plastic are entering us, although this has long been suspected, as much of what we eat and drink is stored or served there.
Plastics were already known to contaminate the marine food web, entering plankton, crustaceans, fish, turtles and seabirds.
It's easier to study animals: Scientists have found pieces of plastic of all sizes by dissecting dead individuals.
But some enterprising scientists from the Vienna Medical University have been looking into the issue of ingesting human plastic by collecting stool samples. Of eight human subjects – from Europe, Russia and Japan – had ingested plastic pieces ranging from grains of rice to grains of sand. (The rest of us are all human subjects as part of a much larger experience for which we have not volunteered.)
Researchers looked for 10 types of plastic and found nine. The most common are polyethylene terephthalate, PET, and polypropylene – components of food packaging and water bottles. They presented their findings at a gastroenterology conference on October 23rd.
It's a little reassuring that this plastic has left the bodies of subjects. And the results are still preliminary. Skeptical scientists in the scientific community have called for caution because it was a small study that had not yet been peer reviewed and researchers who had not ruled out the possibility that plastic pieces come from laboratory contamination.
But then, if microplastics are so ubiquitous that qualified scientists can not stop them from contaminating a laboratory experiment, how could it prevent them from contaminating breakfast, lunch and dinner?
If the pieces of plastic were in the digestive tract of these people, nobody knows yet how they got there. Some may move up the food chain – ingested when we eat creatures that eat plastic, or when we eat creatures that eat creatures that eat plastic, etc. Some may come from water bottles and food containers.
Other studies have shown that tap water and bottled water are contaminated with microplastics. An article from National Geographic points out that carpets and other household items can lose plastic fibers and that synthetic fibers are floating around our homes.
The health ramifications, if any, are also unknown. In studies on seabirds, ingestion of plastics had exposed them to chemicals called phthalates, which are known hormone disruptors.
From an evolutionary point of view, we know that we are not well suited to plastic consumption. It is well known that plastics can kill seabirds and marine life, although they often ingest a lot more and in larger quantities in relation to body size, which is sometimes confused. plastic trash for jellyfish or other food sources.
If ever a study required follow-up, this is it. A larger sample of people could give us clues as to where plastic comes from and how it will affect us. Maybe if people are worried about our own health, we will be more likely to do something for plastics that already kill so many other animals.
The scientific author Faye Flam is an editorialist of Bloomberg Opinion. She has written for The Economist, The New York Times, and Science.
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