It has become very fashionable to blame micro- and nanoplastics for all sorts of things! A.k.a. plastophobia!
If my memory serves me well, in recent decades past it was macroplastics blamed for all sorts of things! However, the risks and dangers turned out to be quite exaggerated! You see the pattern/game here going from macro to micro to do it all over again for monetary gain (e.g. research funding).
What if the presence of such plastics in our bodies are rather harmless and not the primary factor causing a diseases etc.?
What are the risks of picoplastics? Pardon my facetiousness!
The presence or absence of such plastics is not evidence of causality!
"... Doctors are warning of potential health dangers posed by micro- and nanoplastics, after finding that “jagged foreign particles” of plastic removed from blood vessels could be linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and early death ...
Details of the study: After examining fatty plaques removed from the blood vessels of patients with arterial disease, researchers in Naples found that more than half had accumulated tiny particles of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride ...
Those with plaques containing such plastics were 4.5X times more likely to suffer cardiovascular problems or early death over the following 34 months, compared with people with plastic-free plaques. ..."From the 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."
Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events (no public access)
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