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Are Microplastics Deadlier Than We Imagined?
A groundbreaking study by Italian scientists and doctors proves that microplastics accumulate even in arteries, posing a threat to heart and brain health.
Scientists are discovering microplastics almost everywhere: in oceans, crustaceans, breast milk, drinking water, suspended in the air, or falling with rain. It can also accumulate in our organs, and we are just beginning to understand its impact on our health. A new study confirms that microplastics are harmful to it.
Microplastics and nanoplastics are ubiquitous.
Microplastics are formed when sunlight, water, and other factors cause the breakdown of plastics into fragments smaller than 5 millimeters. Even worse are nanoplastics, particles measured in nanometers. These are billionths of a meter.
At this size, particles can enter our bodies and blood through food, water, and even the air we breathe. Microscopic plastic pollutants are not only ubiquitous but also difficult to control. Their decomposition often takes hundreds of years. Our body cells are unable to break down microplastics.