Scientists have developed a new technique that may be able to detect microplastics in the organs of humans.

The Prevalence of Microplastics

Microplastics are plastic particles with a diameter of fewer than five millimeters, while nano plastics' diameter is smaller than 0.001 millimeters.

Microplastic pollution has widely polluted our oceans, forests, and many other ecosystems and environments. It is present from the Alps to the Arctic, and even in our air. It is known that people worldwide unwittingly consume these particles through contaminated food and drinking water. Presently, their effect on human health is still unknown. 

Being so prevalent in almost every part of our environment, scientists expect that these particles are also present in human organs. So far, chemical traces of these plastics have been found in human tissue. Unfortunately, isolating these micro fragments is very difficult.

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New Detection Technique

Because of the latest technology, particles of microplastics and nanoplastics can now be possibly discovered in organs. Researchers tested the method by adding microplastic particles to a total of 47 liver, lung, kidney, and spleen tissue samples. Their research showed how these microplastics could be detected in all of these samples.

The study will be presented at the American Chemical Society meeting this coming Monday. The technique is intended to determine the level of contamination in our organs.

Through the new method, dozens of plastic types can be identified, such as PET or polyethylene terephthalate as well as polyethylene. Both of these are used in making beverage bottles, food packages, and other containers. In all the samples, BPA or bisphenol A was found.

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Health Effects of Microplastics

According to the US EPA, BPA is known to be a systemic, reproductive, and developmental toxicant.

Arizona State University's Varun Kelkar, who is a member of the research team, says that these chemicals can be found everywhere and can accumulate in our tissues. He says it is unknown what their health effects could be.

He says that when they determine what kind of plastics are found in tissues, epidemiological investigations can be conducted to assess their effects in human health if any. Scientists can then begin to study their possible risks to health.

Researcher Charles Rolsky said that in just a few decades, our view of plastic has transformed from a benefit to a threat. Microplastics and nanoplastics come from larger plastic litter. Research has found that exposure to them are linked to cancer, infertility, and inflammation in laboratory animals and wildlife.

Currently, the researchers test the sample tissues to see the microplastics which accumulated in their donors' lifetime. Tissue bank donors usually provide information on lifestyle, occupation, and diet, which can help future research in determining how people get exposed to these chemical particles.

The results and the new technique developed to extract these chemicals from human tissues will be provided online for other scientists and researchers to report their efforts in a standardized manner. It will help build a database on plastic exposure for scientists to compare plastic exposures over groups, geographical locations, and time.

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