“At this point,there is nothing known,but the plastics may be a ‘dark matter’ that have actually been driving health issues for decades,completely unrecognised,” Campen said.
“The relationship with male fertility,for instance,is a clear example of a global decline that lacks a coherent cause. Plastics may be the driver.”
Campen believes the effect of plastic on dementia,autism,ALS and Parkinson’s demands urgent investigation.
There’s no strong evidence yet that directly ties the presence of microplastics in the body to specific health problems. A small but influential Italian study in March,however,found half of people undergoing surgery for clogged arteries had blood vessels riddled with microplastics,and those patients had a far greater chance ofheart attack,stroke and death.
Evidence is far stronger concerning the health risks of chemicals associated with plastic,for example chemicals added to make plastic flame-resistant or non-stick including BPA andPFAS “forever chemicals”.
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AnAustralian review published on Tuesday aggregated findings from studies involving 1.5 million people and concluded plastic-associated chemicals were linked to a raft of health problems including diabetes,heart disease,endometriosis,damaged sperm and low IQ.
“When people make plastic,there’s about 16,000 different chemicals used,and 11,000 of those have no hazard criteria we can find. So we’re flying blind,” said co-author of the review,Emerita Professor Sarah Dunlop from the Minderoo Foundation and the University of Western Australia.
The review didn’t scrutinise the health effects of microplastics themselves because there are virtually no papers that accurately measure MNPs in the body and extrapolate health effects.
“But the warning bell is there – once we have the right measurement techniques to ensure what we’re picking up in the human tissue is actually plastic,we can look at health impacts,” Dunlop said.
Sources of microplastics include plastic bottles and food containers,air pollution flecked with particles shed from road tyres,and synthetic fibres in clothes,blankets and carpets.
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