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From the University of California, July 11, 2024.
Link to the online article: What plastic pollution does to your body, and what you can do about it.
"Microplastics are essentially invisible, but they're everywhere".
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, UC San Francisco.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably picked up on a growing anxiety around plastic pollution.
Plastics and the long-lasting chemicals they’re made of are accumulating in our oceans, leaching into our farm fields and piling up in landfills. Plastic is floating in the air and falling from the sky. It’s also turning up in remote, isolated caves … so even if you have been living under a rock, you might have cause for concern.
What does all this plastic pollution mean for the health of people and the planet? And what can we do about it? Experts across the University of California are tackling our big plastic problem from every imaginable angle, from chemistry to engineering, policy to art, medicine to oceanography. They’re coming back with key insights for elected officials and everyday Californians. And they’re developing practical solutions to many of the dangers that plastics pose.
Read the entire article here: What plastic pollution does to your body, and what you can do about it.
#clenzeyourbody
From the University at Buffalo, UBNow, June 28, 2024.
Link to the online article: Art installation on campus helps combat plastic pollution .
The installation of two microplastic recycling bins on the North and South campuses is part of a broader, ongoing arts and education initiative designed to emphasize the importance of recycling and create a healthier environment for all.
The “art bin” installation project, approved by UB’s Public Art Committee, is a collaboration between UB alumna Nicole Chochrek, who designed the bins, as well as a colorful guide to educate the public on the dangers of microplastics, and CEPA gallery.
The bins are located at Flint Loop on the North Campus and the Main Circle on the South Campus — two of the busiest spots on campus. By partnering with the university to place the bins in high-traffic areas, Chochrek hopes to spark quantifiable change and educational outreach. Plastics gathered in the UB bins, as well as others installed throughout Erie and Niagara counties, are used by Chochrek in her art practice.
By using art in the fight against rampant microplastics, Chochrek hopes to bridge the gap between science and public knowledge by making the task inviting and community-building.
Read the entire article here: Art installation on campus helps combat plastic pollution
#clenzeearth
From The Engineer, theengineer.co.uk, June 27, 2024.
Link to the online article: Biochar removes microplastics from road water runoff .
A plant-based material used to create a biochar can remove microplastics found in the runoff from roads, laboratory tests have shown.
Undertaken by RSK Group company TerrAffix and Kier, the laboratory trials are believed to be the first to look at the possibility of removing microplastics from road runoff using biochar, which is created when organic materials are turned into refractory carbon via pyrolysis.
The trials were carried out at Swansea University and found that there were no traces of microplastics in the road runoff. The solution will next be put on trial on Kier and National Highways’ A417 project, with details of the road trial in design now.
In a statement, Matt Tompsett, head of environment and sustainability at Kier Transportation, said: “We’ve been aware of the hidden impact of microplastics generated by the highways network for years.
“We wanted to focus on a solution that could be deployed at scale within highway drainage systems. I had high hopes that biochar would be effective at removing microplastic, but the fact that there were no traces of microplastic is fantastic. Globally, there are no published papers at all which look at road runoff and microplastic removal using biochar, so this research is breaking new ground. As with all good research projects, they raise questions as well as answer them. We now know that biochar is very effective at removing microplastic from road runoff, but we don’t know if this effectiveness diminishes over time, so the next step will be to use in a real-world scenario on our National Highways A417 Major Project to find out.”
Read the entire article here: Biochar removes microplastics from road water runoff
#clenzeearth
From MSN.com, June 16, 2024.
Link to the online article: Potential health risks of microplastics in everyday life revealed.
Further scientific research indicates possible links between microplastics and nanoplastics and severe health consequences. How can we minimize our exposure to these pollutants?
Microplastics and nanoplastics are everywhere. These tiny plastic particles have been found in everything from drinking water to chicken nuggets, apples, and broccoli. At the same time, more and more studies are indicating links between these pollutants and heart diseases, lung diseases, and other serious health issues.
Microplastics can be very dangerous to health
Scientists are still examining the exact connections between tiny pieces of plastic and the human body. It is important to remember that these links indicate concerns about the impact of plastic microbeads on health, but they are not yet specific, unequivocally proven causal connections. We still have to wait for those. What can be done to minimize the risk of severe consequences? The magazine "Wirecutter" asked experts about this.
Doctors' first advice is the same for all other conditions. The best prevention is general care for the body: getting enough sleep, regular physical activity, a balanced diet, reducing stress levels, and undergoing preventive check-ups. A well-functioning body can better defend itself against all unfavorable external factors.
Read the entire article here: Potential health risks of microplastics in everyday life revealed
From SaturdayEveningPost.com, June 5, 2024.
Link to the online article: Doctor's Note: Life in Plastic, It's Not Fantastic: Microplastic and Nanoplastic Toxicity
Are we being poisoned by the plastics in our environment? David S. Chang looks at the facts and uncertainties around how we are affected by plastics and what we can do about it.
Excerpt form the article. Click the link above to read the entire article.
We live in a world of plastic. You can wake up in bed covered with polyester sheets, turn off your plastic alarm clock, put on Lycra underwear and polyester clothes, take the plastic wrap off your breakfast bar, and slip on your “vegan leather” – plastic – sneakers. Then you climb into your car, sit your butt on a plastic seat, and zoom off on synthetic rubber… plastic tires.
So when you hear that researchers recently detected nanoplastics in carotid artery plaques, microplastics in human lungs, livers, gallstones, testicles, even placentas and breastmilk, you may find yourself asking questions. Are we being poisoned by the plastics in our environment? Is it true that microplastics are “this generation’s lead pollution”, as some have speculated? What are microplastics, anyway?
From ScientificAmerican.com, May 22, 2024.
Link to the online article: Microplastics Have Now Been Found in Testicles. How Bad Is That?
Evidence shows microplastics can end up in many different organs and may harm reproductive health
Microplastics are everywhere. These tiny polymers, shed by the 400 million-some metric tons of plastic that humans produce each year, are in the food we eat and the water we drink—and therefore our body. While microplastics’ impacts on human health have not yet been fully established, evidence suggests chemicals in some plastics can disrupt hormone signaling, potentially leading to a wide array of health effects.
New research is painting an increasingly concerning picture of how microplastics may be impacting our reproductive health. In a study published last week in Toxicological Sciences, researchers tested 23 human testicles and 47 dog testicles and found microplastics in every sample. They also found that dog testes with higher concentrations of certain microplastics tended to have lower sperm counts. The findings add to previous work that showed that other reproductive organs are also affected—a study published in February found microplastics in all tested samples from the human placenta, the temporary organ that feeds oxygen and nutrients to a developing fetus.
“There hasn’t been a body part that people have looked but haven’t found [microplastics] in,” says Tracey Woodruff, an environmental health researcher and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research and that of others have found that these plastic fragments can harm human health. “It’s not a stretch to think that we’re just going to find more adverse health effects with microplastics,” she says.
Scientific American spoke with Woodruff about how microplastics impact our reproductive organs and what, if anything, we can do about the problem.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
Microplastics Have Now Been Found in Testicles. How Bad Is That?
From CNN.com, May 21, 2024.
Link to the online article: Tiny plastic shards found in human testicles, study says
Human testicles contain microplastics and nanoplastics at levels three times higher than animal testes and human placentas, a new small study found.
Human testicles contain microplastics and nanoplastics at levels three times higher than animal testes and human placentas, a new small study found.
“These plastics are often nano-scale, typically less than half a micron in length and maybe like 20 to 200 nanometers in width,” said toxicologist Matthew Campen, coauthor of the study that published May 15 in the journal Toxicological Sciences.
“They look like little shards, tiny broken bits from very, very old plastics,” said Campen, a regents’ professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
It is fitting that the theme for Earth Day 2024 was "Planet versus Plastics".
From Forbes online, May 4, 2024. The online article can be found here:
Making the 'Planet Vs Plastics' Fight Real
The fight to end plastic pollution gained momentum this week as the deadline for a UN-led international treaty nears, but will everything fall in place for true change?
It’s happening every day. From our water, our food and even the air we breathe, tiny plastic particles are finding their way into many parts of our body.
Link to the online article: Microplastics Make Their Way from the Gut to Other Organs, UNM Researchers Find
From UNM Health Sciences Newsroom, hsc.unm.edu/news/, online April 12, 2024 regarding article published in Environmental Health Perspectives:
In Vivo Tissue Distribution of Polystyrene or Mixed Polymer Microspheres and Metabolomic Analysis after Oral Exposure in Mice
Authors: Marcus M. Garcia, Aaron S. Romero, Seth D. Merkley, Jewel L. Meyer-Hagen, Charles Forbes, Eliane El Hayek, David P. Sciezka, et al.
Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives
Volume 132, Issue 4
CID: 047005
https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13435
From the online article:
It’s happening every day. From our water, our food and even the air we breathe, tiny plastic particles are finding their way into many parts of our body.
But what happens once those particles are inside? What do they do to our digestive system?
In a recent paper published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, University of New Mexico researchers found that those tiny particles – microplastics – are having a significant impact on our digestive pathways, making their way from the gut and into the tissues of the kidney, liver and brain.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors #bindplastics
The starting material consists of waste from wood production industry and the process mirrors plastic production making it easier to adopt.
Link to the online article: ‘World’s first’ tree bark-based alternative to plastic packing material
From interestingengineering.com, online March 29, 2024.
From the online article:
Bpacks, a UK-based startup, has launched the “world’s first” tree bark-based packaging material as an alternative to plastic.
Made from the waste of the wood production industry, the packing technology works with equipment used for plastic-based packaging production, making it easier to switch to a more environment-friendly alternative.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors #bindplastics
'Very concerning': Microplastics can accumulate in cancer cells and may help them spread, study hints
Link to the online article: 'Very concerning': Microplastics can accumulate in cancer cells and may help them spread, study hints
From the LIVESCIENCE.com, online March 21, 2024 regarding article published in Chemosphere:
Microplastics role in cell migration and distribution during cancer cell division
Brynzak-Schreiber E, Schögl E, Bapp C, Cseh K, Kopatz V, Jakupec MA, Weber A, Lange T, Toca-Herrera JL, Del Favero G, Wadsak W, Kenner L, Pichler V. Microplastics role in cell migration and distribution during cancer cell division. Chemosphere. 2024 Feb 27;353:141463. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141463. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38423146.
From the online article:
An early lab-dish study in cancer cells suggests microplastics can persist through cell division and may contribute to cancer spread, when they're in tumors.
Microplastics may hang around in the body longer than scientists previously thought and may contribute to the spread of cancer when inside tumors, a lab-dish study suggests.
The research has several limitations, however. For instance, the scientists used cancer cells grown in lab dishes, so it remains to be seen how the results apply to real-life biological systems beyond controlled lab conditions. The microplastics studied also differ somewhat from those found in the environment, because the latter have different shapes and degrade in specific ways.
Nonetheless, the lab-dish study's findings are "very concerning," Nicholas Chartres, a researcher who studies microplastics at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Sydney, told Live Science in an email. "These types of studies are critical early warning signs for us to act," said Chartres, who was not involved in the new research.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
Research shows plant-based polymers can disappear within seven months
Link: Say Hello to Biodegradable Microplastics
From the University of San Diego, online March 21, 2024.
Go to Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane for the full article: Allemann, M.N., Tessman, M., Reindel, J. et al. Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane. Sci Rep 14, 6036 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56492-6
From the article:
Microplastics are tiny, nearly indestructible fragments shed from everyday plastic products. As we learn more about microplastics, the news keeps getting worse. Already well-documented in our oceans and soil, we’re now discovering them in the unlikeliest of places: our arteries, lungs and even placentas.
Microplastics can take anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years to break down and, in the meantime, our planet and bodies are becoming more polluted with these materials every day.
Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at the University of California San Diego and materials-science company Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months. The paper, whose authors are all UC San Diego professors, alumni or former research scientists, appears in Nature Scientific Reports.
“We're just starting to understand the implications of microplastics. We've only scratched the surface of knowing the environmental and health impacts,” stated Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Michael Burkart, one of the paper’s authors and an Algenesis co-founder. “We're trying to find replacements for materials that already exist, and make sure these replacements will biodegrade at the end of their useful life instead of collecting in the environment. That's not easy.”
“When we first created these algae-based polymers about six years ago, our intention was always that it be completely biodegradable,” said another of the paper’s authors, Robert Pomeroy, who is also a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and an Algenesis co-founder. “We had plenty of data to suggest that our material was disappearing in the compost, but this is the first time we’ve measured it at the microparticle level.”
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
Researchers’ tech removes nanoplastics from water
Link: Researchers’ tech removes nanoplastics from water
From the University of Waterloo, Canada, online March 15, 2024.
Go to Scientists can now remove microplastics from our water with 94 per cent efficiency for the full story.
A Waterloo Engineering research team has developed technology that can remove harmful nanoplastics from contaminated water.
Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen, professor of chemical engineering and Canada Research Chair in sustainable multiphase polymers, and grad student Rachel Blanchard’s (BASc ‘22, chemical engineering), innovative research can clear nanoplastics from wastewater systems with 94 per cent efficiency.
The team repurposed epoxy waste, typically destined for landfills or water systems, into activated carbon through thermal decomposition. This activated carbon effectively removed nanoplastics, which are a thousand times smaller than microplastics, from water contaminated with polyethylene terephthalate-derived nanoplastics.
It offers a promising solution to the health risks posed by these tiny contaminants which are difficult to detect and can penetrate cells. Their method achieved a 94 per cent removal efficiency by physically trapping nanoplastics in the porous structure of the waste plastic, thus generating activated carbon.
“Rationally designed plastics not only can be part of the solution to reduce climate change but can have a positive impact in economic development and create jobs,” Mekonnen said. “This technology has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the plastics industry.”
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
Article from Nature referencing the New England Journal of Medicine article - Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events
Link: Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events NEJM
From the Nature article, online March 6, 2024.
Link: Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems
Plastic chokes a canal in Chennai, India.
Plastics are just about everywhere — food packaging, tyres, clothes, water pipes. And they shed microscopic particles that end up in the environment and can be ingested or inhaled by people.
Now the first data of their kind show a link between these microplastics and human health. A study of more than 200 people undergoing surgery found that nearly 60% had microplastics or even smaller nanoplastics in a main artery1. Those who did were 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, a stroke or death in the approximately 34 months after the surgery than were those whose arteries were plastic-free.
“This is a landmark trial,” says Robert Brook, a physician-scientist at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, who studies the environmental effects on cardiovascular health and was not involved with the study. “This will be the launching pad for further studies across the world to corroborate, extend and delve into the degree of the risk that micro- and nanoplastics pose.”
But Brook, other researchers and the authors themselves caution that this study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine on 6 March, does not show that the tiny pieces caused poor health. Other factors that the researchers did not study, such as socio-economic status, could be driving ill health rather than the plastics themselves, they say.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
From: March 7, 2024: N Engl J Med 2024; 390:900-910 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2309822
Link: Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events NEJM
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease in preclinical studies. Direct evidence that this risk extends to humans is lacking.
METHODS
We conducted a prospective, multicenter, observational study involving patients who were undergoing carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic carotid artery disease. The excised carotid plaque specimens were analyzed for the presence of MNPs with the use of pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, stable isotope analysis, and electron microscopy. Inflammatory biomarkers were assessed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemical assay. The primary end point was a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause among patients who had evidence of MNPs in plaque as compared with patients with plaque that showed no evidence of MNPs.
RESULTS
A total of 304 patients were enrolled in the study, and 257 completed a mean (±SD) follow-up of 33.7±6.9 months. Polyethylene was detected in carotid artery plaque of 150 patients (58.4%), with a mean level of 21.7±24.5 μg per milligram of plaque; 31 patients (12.1%) also had measurable amounts of polyvinyl chloride, with a mean level of 5.2±2.4 μg per milligram of plaque. Electron microscopy revealed visible, jagged-edged foreign particles among plaque macrophages and scattered in the external debris. Radiographic examination showed that some of these particles included chlorine. Patients in whom MNPs were detected within the atheroma were at higher risk for a primary end-point event than those in whom these substances were not detected (hazard ratio, 4.53; 95% confidence interval, 2.00 to 10.27; P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, patients with carotid artery plaque in which MNPs were detected had a higher risk of a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months of follow-up than those in whom MNPs were not detected. (Funded by Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05900947. opens in new tab.)
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
From: Q&A: Microplastics researcher explains how to limit their dangers (2024, February 29) retrieved 1 March 2024
Link: Q&A: Microplastics researcher explains how to limit their dangers
Excerpt from the article:
An invisible invasion by land, air and sea: Microscopic plastic pieces are in the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink—bottled or not.
For more than three decades, UC San Francisco Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Tracey Woodruff, Ph.D., MPH, has researched how the toxic chemicals that surround us in modern life make us sick, like those in microplastics. Sometimes only about the width of a human hair, microplastics are the insidious byproduct of everyday items like packing materials, car tires, synthetic clothes as they degrade and even some scrubbing face washes.
Woodruff and University of California colleagues reviewed nearly 2,000 scientific studies about microplastics' health risks in 2022 at the request of California legislators seeking advice for future policies. The available evidence from animal studies led them to warn that ingested microplastics appear to reduce fertility and may increase the risk of cancer, particularly in the digestive tract.
Here's how Woodruff's research changed what she eats to what cleaning products she has under her sink—and how what she's learned can help you, too.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
From: Chemosphere, Available online 27 February 2024, 141463
Link: Microplastics role in cell migration and distribution during cancer cell division
Highlights
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
From: Journal of Hazardous Materials, Available online 21 February 2024, 133855
Abstract
Microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment. Human body can be exposed to microplastics through inhalation and ingestion and some microplastics can enter the blood and accumulate in various tissues and organs throughout the body. Animal experiments have suggested that microplastics may promote atherosclerosis. However, data on microplastics in human arteries and clinical evidence supporting a link between microplastics and atherosclerosis are currently lacking. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) was used in this study to detect microplastics in three types of human arteries: coronary and carotid arteries with atherosclerotic plaques, as well as the aorta without plaques. Microplastics were detected in all 17 arterial samples, with an average concentration of 118.66 ± 53.87 μg/g tissue. Four types of microplastics were identified: polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 73.70%), polyamide-66 (PA-66, 15.54%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 9.69%), and polyethylene (PE, 1.07%). Most importantly, the concentration of microplastics in arteries containing atherosclerotic plaques, both coronary arteries (156.50 ± 42.14 vs. 76.26 ± 14.86 μg/g tissue, P=0.039), and carotid arteries (133.37 ± 60.52 vs. 76.26 ± 14.86 μg/g tissue, P=0.015), was significantly higher than that in aortas which did not contain atherosclerotic plaques, suggesting that microplastics might be associated with atherosclerosis in humans. This study provides valuable data for further hazard assessments of microplastics on human cardiovascular health.
Environmental implication
Microplastics, as an emerging environmental pollutant, can accumulate in a wide range of human tissues and organs. In this study, microplastics were detected in three kinds of arterial tissues (coronary arteries, power arteries, and aorta), predominantly polyethylene terephthalate (PET), followed by polyamide-66 (PA-66), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene (PE). Most importantly, we found that the concentration of microplastics in arteries with atherosclerotic plaques was significantly higher than that in arteries without atherosclerotic plaques, implying that microplastics might be associated with atherosclerosis in humans. This study provided valuable data for further hazard assessment of microplastics on human cardiovascular health.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
This article appeared on phys.org, Feb 13, 2024.
Link: Microplastics in soils: First consistent risk assessment
From the article:
Microplastics in soil are extremely diverse and complex. This makes it difficult to determine the risks of plastic pollution to soil life, which is an increasing concern among policymakers and scientists. Researchers from the Spanish Institute IMDEA Water and Wageningen University & Research now offer the first ecological risk assessment indicating that risks are to be expected.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
This article appeared on Medscape, Jan 11, 2024.
Link: What's the Disease Burden From Plastic Exposure?
From the article:
Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) via daily use of plastics is a major contributor to the overall disease burden in the United States and the associated costs to society amount to more than 1% of the gross domestic product, revealed a large-scale analysis.
The research, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society on January 11, indicated that taken together, the disease burden attributable to EDCs used in the manufacture of plastics added up to almost $250 billion in 2018 alone.
#plasticlenze #clenzeearth #clenzeyourbody #plasticprevention
#nanoplastics #microplastics #endocrinedisruptors
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