Beijing, China

Amid the ongoing worldwide plastic crisis, the findings of a recent study might just make your heart skip a beat. In a number of recent studies, it was found that microplastics are detected virtually everywhere, from rain, and snow to even human blood. 

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According to the latest study published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), a team of scientists in Beijing Anzhen Hospital, China found microplastics in the human heart for the first time. 

What are microplastics?

Microplastics have been defined as tiny chunks of less than five millimetres long pieces of plastic and microfibres from clothes that get caught in the Earth’s atmosphere. 

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Previous studies have also confirmed the worst fears that microplastics are being carried all around the world including remote areas such as Antarctica where, last year, microplastics were found in the fresh snowfall. 

Studies have also found that they can enter the human body through mouth, nose and other body cavities. However, scientists have yet to find out the potential exposure to, and effects from, microplastics, on the human body. 

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How was the study conducted?

The pilot experiment conducted by Doctors Kun Hua, Xiubin Yang and their team sought to investigate whether these particles can enter people’s cardiovascular systems through indirect and direct exposures. 

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Therefore, researchers collected heart tissue samples from 15 people during cardiac surgeries, as well as pre-and post-operation blood specimens from half of the participants, said the statement about the study. The samples were then analysed with laser direct infrared imaging. 

What did they find?

Researchers, using the previously mentioned method, found 20 to 500 micrometre-wide particles made from eight types of plastic, as per the study. They also found “tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most of the tissue samples collected”, but the amounts and materials varied between participants.

Among the eight types of plastics found was Polyethylene terephthalate, which is used in clothing and food containers as well as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is widespread in window frames, drainage pipes, paint and more. 

The study also noted that while all the blood samples collected contained plastic particles, the average size after the surgery decreased but the particles came from more diverse types of plastics. 

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This suggests that some microplastics were inadvertently introduced to the subjects during the surgeries. While the study was conducted with a small number of participants, researchers said that they have provided preliminary evidence of how “various microplastics can accumulate and persist in the heart and its innermost tissues.” 

They added that the “findings show how invasive medical procedures are an overlooked route of microplastics exposure, providing direct access to the bloodstream and internal tissues.” 

“The detection of in vivo MPs (microplastics) is alarming, and more studies are necessary to investigate how the MPs enter the cardiac tissues and the potential effects of MPs on long-term prognosis after cardiac surgery,” said the research team, in a statement.

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