Study - Microplastics Discovered In Blood Of 17 Out Of 22 Healthy Adult Donors Tested

[hatrack]

Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested. The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year.

Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics now contaminate the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People were already known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in, and they have been found in the faeces of babies and adults.

The scientists analysed blood samples from 22 anonymous donors, all healthy adults and found plastic particles in 17. Half the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in drinks bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, used for packaging food and other products. A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene, from which plastic carrier bags are made.

“Our study is the first indication that we have polymer particles in our blood – ​it’s a breakthrough result,” said Prof Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. “But we have to extend the research and increase the sample sizes, the number of polymers assessed, etc.” Further studies by a number of groups are already under way, he said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I assume that we will eventually evolve to have plastic as an essential part of our being. That's...

if we last long enough.

[NJCher]

2. Look up

Microplastics tea bags. Millions and millions in a single bag.

It’s why I switched to loose tea.

You can also cut the tea bag and empty it; brew it loose.

The plastic part is in the sealing of the bag.

A few teas don’t use that sealing method.

[Native]

3. Me too.

[Native]

4. There was a time when you could get bags made of actual silk.

I think David's Tea may still use them, but most just say "silken" bags now.

[wnylib]

5. So what do you use for brewing loose tea?

Using a coffee maker and filter would be one way. But are there other ways?

[Blues Heron]

6. Use a pot with a built in strainer

Then decant into a carafe when it’s steeped. Then you can do multiple steepings . I add a small scoop of new leaves to the steeped to bolster it with each new steeping. I can get three steeps this way.

[wnylib]

7. Thanks. Currently I just heat a cup

of water in the microwave and use a tea bag.

Avoiding tea bags would mean drinking tea only at home since restaurants and take out places use tea bags. But I stopped eating out since the pandemic, so that is not a problem for me. I live alone, though, and rarely drink more than one cup at a time, so I guess I could use small amounts of water and tea, once I got a straining pot.

[Blues Heron]

8. My carafe is almost never empty

The beauty of this method is you can just leave the tea in the carafe since its off the leaves which are in the strainer pot. My first cup of the day is usually left over from the day before.

[wnylib]

9. So do you heat the carafe, or just

pour a cup and heat it?

[Blues Heron]

10. I heat the cup in the microwave

The only time I heat the carafe is before decanting I rinse it with some left over boiling water so the tea stays nice and warm when I decant it.