According to the International Journal of Molecular Sciences micro plastics can cause worrying behavioural changes. Plastic particles less than 5 mm are some of the most dangerous pollutants on the planet affecting our food and water.
Research shows that these micro pollutants affect our body just as much as they affect the environment. Scientists at the University of Rhode Island exposed young and old mice to various levels of micro plastics in drinking water for 3 weeks and saw that the animals started acting strangely with behavior that is akin to dementia in humans.
Lead researcher Jaime Ross said, “To us, this was striking. These were not high doses of micro plastics, but in only a short period of time, we saw these changes.”
Ross said that the detection of micro plastics in tissues such as the heart and lungs suggests that the micro plastics are going beyond the digestive system and likely undergoing systemic circulation. He said that the brain blood barrier is difficult to break through and yet these particles were able to get in deep in the brain tissue.
Micro plastics woes
It leads to a decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) which is often associated with early stages of neurodegenerative diseases.
“We were very surprised to see that the micro plastics could induce altered GFAP signaling.”
States in the United States have long banned plastic bags. In New York plastic bags have been banned since March 2020.
Micro plastics have also been discovered in human hearts. The alarming discovery was made by a team of scientists from Beijing Anzhen Hospital in China where the heart tissue of 15 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery was looked into.
Researchers analysed the heart tissue of 15 patients as well as blood samples. They detected tens of thousands of individuals microplastic pieces in most of the tissue samples. The type of microplastic found is commonly seen in window frames, drainage pipes, paint and more.
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