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Writer: Cansu Kızılkaya
According to the study published in 'Environmental International', a method was developed in the Netherlands that analyzes the presence of plastic in human blood. As result of the studies carried out with this method in 22 healthy individuals, 4 common micro-plastic types were detected in the blood of 17 people.
I mentioned in my previous blog post that we consume an average of 1 credit card-sized plastic per week, due to the micro-plastics contained in the plastic-packaged foods we consume, through the creatures exposed to plastic pollution in the oceans, and in the items we frequently use in our daily lives such as cosmetics - care materials and clothes. Plastics, which exist in all areas of our lives, no longer just circulate in our bodies, they are also in our blood.
Half of the samples taken from volunteers in the studies contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in beverage bottles, and a third of polystyrene, which is used to package food and other products, while a quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene from which the plastic bags were made. It is among the findings that some of the samples contain more than one type of plastic.
While the use of plastic is so common in all areas of daily life and it has been revealed that a person consumes an average of 20 kg of plastic in his/her lifetime, it is perhaps not so surprising that plastic is found in our blood. In previous studies, plastic was detected even in the placentas of unborn babies. The presence of plastic in the blood is very important in terms of showing that this material is not only consumed and excreted by humans, but also found in the circulatory system.
Prof. Dick Vethaak, eco-toxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, describes this study result as groundbreaking, the first indication that we have polymer particles in our blood, but adds that the research needs to be expanded and the number of samples, polymers evaluated, etc. needs to be increased. Ongoing studies may lead to more detailed information soon.
This biomonitoring study, which made a mark to the past month, showed that it is biologically possible for plastic particles to enter the human bloodstream. Although it is not known for certain until now, it is being said that the plastic we are exposed to, can cause various health problems such as cancer and hormonal disorders. With the detection of plastic in human blood, the public health implications of this issue have become more critical. To determine whether such exposure to plastic particles is a public health risk, it is necessary to understand the associated hazards of exposure to these substances. However, human health risk assessment (HRA) of plastic particle pollution does not seem possible yet, due to both the toxicological hazard and the lack of data on human exposure. However, it is known that plastics that people consume can cause cell wall damage, allergic reaction and even cell death.
According to the news in The Guardian, Evangelos Danopoulos, who is from the Hull York Medical School in England and who led the research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, says the following about the effects of micro-plastics on the cell: Harmful effects on cells are in many cases the initiating event for health effectsWe should be concerned. Right now, there isn’t really a way to protect ourselves
While there are environmental and public health concerns about plastics, there are on the other hand, predictions that the amount of plastic used will double by 2040. While plastics are so in the life and there are not many alternatives to replace them for both economic and practical reasons, it is a worrying curiosity how or whether a solution will be brought to this problem.
https://europe.nxtbook.com/nxteu/wwfintl/tcops/index.php#/p/1
