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People with microplastics and nanoplastics in the plaque lining major blood vessels in the neck may be at higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death, new research suggests.

The findings, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, are the first time scientists have linked cardiovascular disease to these tiny plastic particles that result from degraded plastic pollution.

Microplastics are defined as particles less than 5 millimeters in size, and nanoplastics are much smaller, so small that they can only be seen with specialized microscopes. In recent years, their ubiquity has become undeniable. They have been found in fresh snow in Antarctica, the depths of the Mariana Trench, and even in human blood. breast milk; urine; placenta, lung, and liver tissue.

Dr. Raffaele Marfera, a cardiology researcher at the Luigi Vanvitelli Department of Advanced Medicine and Surgery at the University of Campania in Naples, Italy, and lead author of the new study, said he and his colleagues used the study to look for new risks. Factors in cardiovascular disease that he said started.

They were aware of the vast amounts of degraded plastic pollution contaminating the planet and wondered if “plastic in the form of microplastics and nanoplastics might also degrade our arteries,” says Marfela. he said in an email. People can inhale or ingest plastic particles. Plastic can also enter the body through the skin.

A blue rectangular piece of microplastic on the finger of a researcher in Tacoma, Washington.
A blue rectangular piece of microplastic on the finger of a researcher in Tacoma, Washington.Ted S. Warren / AP File

To study this effect, they looked at a group of patients scheduled to undergo surgery for a condition called carotid artery stenosis, where plaque or fatty deposits block normal blood flow. The body’s two carotid arteries supply blood to the brain, face, and neck. The researchers examined plaque removed from 257 patients and followed their health for an average of 34 months after surgery.

They found plastic particles, mostly nanoplastics, in the dental plaque of 150 patients. In follow-up, nonfatal heart attacks, nonfatal strokes, or death from any cause occurred in 20% of these patients, and in 7.5% of patients with no detectable plastic particles.

After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, and health conditions such as diabetes and cholesterol abnormalities, patients with detectable levels of plastic “had a nearly five times higher risk of cardiovascular events” than other patients, Marfera said. he said.

Numerous experimental studies in cells and animals have shown that the presence of these plastic particles increases disease. A study published online in February in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found microplastics in human arteries for the first time.

Dick Vesak, a biologist and toxicologist at the Institute of Risk Assessment Sciences at Utrecht University and coordinator of the Dutch Microplastics and Human Health Consortium, has previously discovered the presence of microparticles in human tissues. ‘s research was “pioneering,” he said, adding that this study was “the first of its kind.” Kind. ”

“This is the first study to look at so many donors in such detail,” said Vesak, who was not involved in the new study.It’s the first study to follow patients for years to track their health. he said.

However, these types of observational studies can only show a link between plastic particles and heart attacks, strokes, and death. We cannot show that they caused these cardiovascular events. To do so, researchers would need to conduct randomized controlled trials, but it would be unethical to intentionally expose people to potential toxins.

Nevertheless, the study provides some hints about the relationship between the presence of micro- and nanoplastics and heart disease, said Dr. Smit, director of preventive cardiology at the Smit Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. said one Dr. Martha Gulati.

“We know that cardiovascular disease, especially myocardial infarction, is usually caused by an inflammatory response,” Gulati said, using another term for heart attack. Researchers in Italy measured inflammatory markers in patients and found that they increased as the levels of plastic in plaque increased.

Still, “Is the inflammation due to nanoplastics or something else?” Gulati asked.

This study was conducted in a very specific group of patients, so the results cannot be generalized to a broader population. However, it could pave the way for future research.

“This paper may help people understand whether it is possible to measure microplastics and nanoplastics in the general population to see who develops cardiac events,” Gulati said.

Vesak said similar research is underway on other types of human tissue.

The researchers also noted the possibility that the plaque samples were contaminated in the laboratory.

“Future studies conducted using clean rooms where no plastic in any form is present other than the material being studied may confirm our observations,” the researchers said in their paper.

“I hope this study, and the further research it inspires, will help us address our environmental and cardiovascular health, because I think this is something that really needs to be discussed,” Gulati said. he said. “It gets very little attention.”

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