Researchers in recent months have announced the discovery of microplastics traveling in the bloodstream of a handful of anonymous donors and embedded deep in the lung tissue of about a dozen patients awaiting surgery. Another recent study reported finding microplastics in placentas.
These discoveries have made for a dizzying series of headlines that some might find concerning, but the science remains far from settled, NBC News reports.
What recent research makes clear so far is that microplastics are ubiquitous, that these particles enter peoples’ bodies regularly during inhalation or through consumption of food or drinks, and that they find their way into vital body systems.
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Some studies of laboratory animals and cells grown outside the body suggest that there are reasons for concern about how these minuscule pieces of plastics affect our physiology. What remains less apparent is what risks to health, if any, these tiny particles pose at the concentrations they’ve been found.
Read the full story at NBCNews.com.
