Explained: Study finds it’s raining microplastics, should we be concerned about our health?

Auckland, New Zealand

Recently, there have been dozens of studies by scientists and researchers which have found microplastics virtually everywhere including food, oceans, drinking water, even inside the human body, in our blood, lungs, and so on. Meanwhile, a new study in New Zealand found that it has been raining microplastic. 

This “mist of plastic” falls every day and is invisible to the naked eye, it has no smell or taste but it is present and could potentially be more harmful than one might think. Earlier this week, a study published in the Environmental Science & Technology found that some 74 metric tons of microplastics rained over New Zealand’s city of Auckland in 2020. 

To put this into perspective, the aforementioned amount of microplastics is equal to at least three million plastic bottles. The study also found that on average nearly 5000 microplastic particles settle daily on every square metre of the city’s rooftop. 

Invisible menace

Microplastic has been defined as tiny chunks of less than five millimetres long pieces of plastic and microfibres from clothes which get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere. Previous studies have also confirmed the worst fears that microplastics are being carried all around the world including remote areas such as Antarctica where, earlier this year, microplastics were found in the fresh snowfall. 

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However, plastic rain is also being called the new acid rain which has already been an issue owing to the increased emissions of gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, said a report by WIRED. But unlike acidification, getting rid of rained-down plastic is nearly impossible since it never really goes away and just breaks down into smaller pieces. 

The report also said how “flowing into the oceans via wastewater and tainting deep-sea ecosystems, and they’re (microplastics) even ejecting out of the water and blowing onto land in sea breezes.” 

What else does the new study say?

While the results of the study seem baffling, New Zealand is not alone. A similar study published in 2020, titled, “Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport”, found that an average of over 750 microplastic particles fell over the same patch of land in London. 

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This does not suggest that pollution in the United Kingdom is lesser since it does not account for the smallest microplastics blowing with the air and our improved ability to find microplastics, said ScienceAlert. Additionally, since there is no set methodology for identifying microplastics, there are many ways to gather the data and study it in this context. Therefore, the results from different research may vary. 

The Auckland research was conducted over nine weeks in two locations where microplastics were caught using a funnel and a jar contraption. The team of scientists from the University of Auckland found at least eight types of airborne plastics with polyethylene (PE) which is used in plastic bags or bottles being the most common one among them.

The study also noted that the number of microplastics found in the contraption on windy days was more when compared to any other day. “The production of airborne microplastics from breaking waves could be a key part of the global transport of microplastics,” said chemist Joel Rindelaub from the University of Auckland, as quoted by ScienceAlert. 

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He added, “And it could help explain how some microplastics get into the atmosphere and are carried to remote places, like here in New Zealand.” Furthermore, scientists also found that the number of microplastics found in their urban site was more when compared to the suburban location and most of them were sized between 10 and 50 micrometres. 

What are the potential effects on human health?

So far, microplastics have been found in different parts of the human body including blood, lungs, and even the gut, but does it affect our health? There is very little known about the effects of microplastics on human health while we have already seen the effect it has on marine life, the same cannot be said for humans. 

However, some tests in laboratory settings have shown microplastics damaging human cells by causing an allergic reaction and in some cases even cell death. In 2020, researchers have found microplastic particles in the human placenta, an organ that is created in the uterus during the pregnancy of unborn children. 

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The placenta gives oxygen and sustenance to the infant in the belly while eliminating the waste issue, therefore it continues to be “a matter of extraordinary concern”, as the scientists had called it at the time. Some of the expected impacts of microplastics on babies as speculated by analysts included diminished foetal development. 

Furthermore, there have been some particles identified in the previous study that found microplastics in the deepest section of the lung which was earlier thought to be impossible as the airways are very narrow. The particles, which were most commonly found, were polypropylene which is known to be toxic to humans and can cause lung irritation, dizziness, headaches, asthma and even cancer in some cases. 

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The toxicity of different plastics has more or less been determined as many scientists speculate that the particles could either cause irritation and inflammation which could someday lead to cancer or they could just stay in the human body as an “inert presence and do nothing,” said a report by National Geographic. It added, what remains unknown is at what point it becomes toxic, be it the amount of microplastics in our bodies or the length of exposure. 

However, since they do not breakdown, “Having these particles in your body can cause stress and changes in metabolism, it can affect immunity, the ability to fight infections, it can affect your reproductive capacity and potentially it could be carcinogenic”, said Professor Anoop Chauhan, a respiratory specialist with Portsmouth Hospital Trust to the Daily Mail. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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