For the first time, microscopic plastic has been found in the interior of the lungs of living humans. Scientists from Hull York Medical School in Britain have made this claim. According to scientists, the air-ways of the lower parts of the lungs are very small. It is astonishing to see plastic go so low.
Lead researcher Professor Laura Sadofsky says that this surprising revelation has come after a study of thirteen patients who came for the operation. Of this, microscopic particles of plastic have been found in the inner parts of the lungs of eleven patients.
Polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are the most common plastic particles found in the lungs. Polypropylene is used to make plastic packaging and pipes. PET is used in the manufacture of bottles. The research paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
0.003 Analysis of fine particles
Scientists have made this claim by examining healthy lung tissue. To reach the conclusion, scientists have analyzed the fine particles of 0.003 mm. The help of spectroscopy has been taken to know the type of plastic. Scientists say that plastic was not expected to be found so much inside the lungs, but whatever has come out is surprising as well as worrisome.
So the lungs fail to stop them
Plastic particles going so far inside the lungs indicate that the lungs are failing to stop them. Till now it was believed that such particles are blocked by the lungs or removed through the filter, but according to what has come out, these microscopic particles are also cheating the capacity of the lungs. The results will be a major driving force for further research on air pollution, microplastics and human health.
Plastic reaching the body like this
Scientists have already been saying that the contaminated plastic particles present in the environment are reaching the body through breathing. Apart from this, plastic is also going inside the human body through food and water. The workers working in factories, where plastic or other types of heavy products are manufactured, are also reaching the plastic body. The increasing trend of daily life plastic can be a big threat to life.
plastic has been found in the blood
In March this year, scientists from the Netherlands revealed the first plastic found in the blood. Vrije University ecotoxicologist Professor Dick Waitham said that blood samples of 22 people had been examined. In this, PET was found in the blood samples of 17 people. The size of the microscopic plastic particles found in the blood was 0.0007 mm. Scientists found two to three types of plastic particles in some blood samples.
What do old studies say
In a 2021 test in Brazil, plastic particles were found inside 13 of the 20 bodies. Scientists had warned that the plastic present in the atmosphere is a new enemy of life. Plastic is going inside the body by breath.
In 1998 in the US, elements like plastic, plant fiber (cotton) were found in 100 samples in research on patients suffering from lung cancer. Plastic and cotton-like elements were found in 97 percent of the samples of cancer-affected tissues.