Plastic products, a product of civilized society, permeate all aspects of our lives. Because of their unimaginable convenience, it is difficult for us to find substitutes. In recent years, more and more studies have begun to explore the impact of plastic products on our health. And in 2024, a blockbusterpaperPublished in international heavyweight journalsNEJMon, aiming to explore [plastic particles】The impact on cardiovascular disease.
First, you need to understand whatplastic particles? Plastic particles are simply the brittle waste of plastic products. If plastic products are not properly treated after being discarded, they will usually enter the water circulation and atmospheric circulation. Over time and the environment, these plastic products will become brittle and crack into pieces, and then gradually wear and degrade into smaller sizes. Generally speaking, they will Plastic particles are divided into microplastics (0.1-1000 mm) and nanoplastics (Nanoplastics, ≤ 0.1 mm) according to their particle size. The smaller the particle size, the more likely these plastic particles are to be blown up by the wind and spread into the atmosphere. They may then enter the water cycle through rainfall or sedimentation, and aquatic organisms in rivers or oceans may be affected by contact or ingestion. Plastic particles gradually accumulate in their bodies. Looking back at humans, there are two main ways in which we are exposed to plastic particles:
(1) Ingestion: It enters the human body through food. The main sources include drinking water, fish, shrimp, shellfish, etc.
(2) Inhalation: Entering the human body through breathing, mainly from air pollution, occupational exposure, etc.
And published in 2024paper, whose research team wanted to obtain more direct evidence of exposure and analyze it more directly with the risk of disease. The study included valid data from 257 subjects. The research team removed the carotid artery plaques of these subjects and analyzed the content of them using pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. of plastic particles, and researchers found measurable polyethylene (PE) in the samples of 150 subjects (accounting for 58.4%), and measurable polyethylene (PE) in the samples of 31 subjects (accounting for 12.1%). Detection of measurable polyvinyl chloride (PVC); it can be seen that the accumulation of plastic particles in human arterial clots is a definite fact and can be measured in a high proportion of the human body.
What is even more surprising is that when the research team continued to track these subjects for about 34 months, the incidence of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality (myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause), compared with Subjects whose plastic particles were not detected in carotid plaques and subjects whose plastic particles were detected,Cardiovascular disease incidence and overall mortalityThe hazard ratio was 4.53 (95% CI, 2.00-10.27; P<0.001), meaning4 times more risk, don’t be careful!
In summary, it can be found that the harm of plastic particles to the human body is ongoing and exists in a high proportion of the population! However, exposure to plastic particles is usually not a one-time large-scale exposure, but a chronic, small-dose exposure. Therefore,The author suggests that everyone can reduce the exposure and accumulation of plastic particles by reducing the use of plastic products, using air purifiers and water filters, and eating small seafood (to reduce accumulation in the food chain), to achieve the effect of disease prevention!
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉