What is it about?

Air pollution is responsible for over 70% of pollution-related deaths worldwide, and growing evidence links environmental pollution with poor cardiovascular outcomes. Air-borne particulate matter includes microplastics (MPs), an emerging contaminant of concern which has recently been detected in human tissues. Our pilot study examining potential MP contamination in human saphenous vein tissue found that while MP levels in tissue samples were not significantly higher than procedural controls, the MP polymer types detected were distinct. Importantly, the polymer types and shape characteristics were distinct from those reported in colon and lung, suggesting that distribution of MP-predominant polymers may be tissue-specific. Our work is the first to report MP presence in human vascular tissues and provides a starting point for in-depth analysis of the levels, types, and clinical significance of MP contamination in human vasculature.

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Why is it important?

This is the first time that microplastics have been found in human vein samples and is evidence that they are able to cross from either the lungs or the gut into such areas. This suggests that they may also be able to travel around our bodies, which has already been demonstrated in other animals. Microplastics cause inflammation and other forms of stress in animals studied to date. This finding highlights that it is now critical to establish what types of effects they may also have within our bodies.

Perspectives

Writing this article has been a fantastic experience as it has involved cross-disciplinary co-authors from clinical and environmental toxicology backgrounds. In the past, my work has been informed by the medical research field, applying their state-of-the-art approaches to marine pollution questions. In this instance, it was the other way around and we applied the current best practice in microplastic research developed within the aquatic environment research community to a clinical application.

Jeanette Rotchell
University of Hull

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This page is a summary of: Detection of microplastics in human saphenous vein tissue using μFTIR: A pilot study, PLoS ONE, February 2023, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280594.
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