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According to the latest study published by the American Chemical Society, a team of scientists in China has found microplastics in the human heart for the first time.
Scientists from Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China made the discovery while analyzing the heart tissue of 15 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery. According to a report in the New York Post, scientists “detected tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue samples” and found plastic samples in all of the blood samples.
“The detection of in vivo MPs [microplastics] is alarming, and more studies are necessary to investigate how the MPs enter the cardiac tissues and the potential effects of MPs [microplastics] on long-term prognosis after cardiac surgery,” said the research team.
Scientists also found Polyethylene terephthalate, which is used in clothing and food containers, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is widespread in window frames, drainage pipes, paint, and more.
Notably, microplastics can be lesser than 5 millimeters wide and can enter the human body through the mouth, nose, and other cavities in the body. Microplastics have been claimed to be indirectly responsible for diseases like obesity, diabetes, and chronic liver disease as they cause changes in the gastrointestinal tract.
