We live in a world of plastic. Plastic production has increased from a mere 1.5 million tons in 1950 to 500 million tons today. And much of that man-made material ends up in more places than just the local landfill.
It’s in our bodies.
Now, evidence suggests they might be associated with heart attacks. A recent Italian study found that heart attack patients were much more likely to have microplastics in their blood than individuals with stable heart disease. They also had more than a control group without heart disease.
The highest concentrations and the widest variety of plastic types were found in blood drawn directly from the artery involved in the heart attack.
We can eat, drink and even breathe microplastics without ever knowing. Some pieces are as small as viruses and bacteria. And once they’re in the body, they can stay put, lodging in our organs, including the brain, and accumulating. They find their way into tissue throughout the body.
In the Italian research, scientists say smoking history was the best predictor of finding plastic in the blood of heart attack patients. Fine-particle pollution was also predictive, to a lesser extent.
Researchers believe preexisting lung and airway damage might make it easier for microplastics to gain a foothold and enter the bloodstream.
Researchers caution that more research is needed to establish a link between microplastics and heart attacks. They note their study was small.
If additional investigation confirms these findings, it will provide another argument against smoking. Avoiding the habit, however, will not be completely protective if the environment is swamped with microplastics, even in the air we breathe.