Lebanese Ministry of Information
Lung cancer patients have been found to have greater amounts of microplastics in their lungs than people without the disease, scientists have discovered.
50 patients with lung cancer in Greece had 20 percent more microplastics in lung fluid samples, a new study from the European Respiratory Society found.
Microplastics – miniscule particles that break off when larger pieces of plastic degrade – have been found in the ocean, air and inside animal and human bodies. They have even been found in the placenta.
Scientists and environmentalists have long warned that plastic waste is choking the planet. Plastic pollution – which also degrades water quality and poisons marine life – is expected to nearly triple by 2060, according to the United Nations.
The new study adds to evidence that microplastics are entering our bodies via the air we breathe.
“Our results suggest that inhaled microplastics can be found in the human lung more frequently than many people may realize,” respiratory physician Dr. Ilias Dimeas, from University College Dublin School of Medicine, said in a statement.
“This adds to the growing evidence that reducing environmental plastic pollution may have benefits that extend beyond ecosystems and into human health.”
Dimeas said that microplastics could contribute to inflammation or other biological processes linked to cancer. But there’s also the possibility that lungs suffering from disease retain microplastic particles differently than healthy lungs, she added….
“Ultimately, we need more research and more data to learn how microplastics affect human health, including their role in cancer,” Dr. Thejus Jayakrishnan, a gastrointestinal cancer physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, told the American Cancer Society in December….
The Independent
