Motes of weathered plastic increasingly dust every corner of our planet, permeating our food, our air, and our water. From the moment we’re born – if not long before – we’re exposed to its effects, and we don’t fully know what that’s doing to our health and wellbeing.
A recent investigation by a team of researchers in Nanjing, China, has uncovered worrying signs that elevated levels of microplastics could be inflaming our digestive systems.
Feces collected from 52 individuals diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were found to contain around 1.5 times the number of plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inches) than similar samples from volunteers without any chronic illnesses.
The vast majority of plastic particles were smaller than 300 micrometers, with a few detectable pieces coming in below a miniscule 5 micrometers across. The researchers noticed those with IBD also tended to have a greater proportion of smaller flakes of microplastic.
What’s more, the greater the plastic load, the more severe the individual’s IBD symptoms.
A survey revealed nothing unusual about the origins of the plastic, suggesting it was the kinds of particles we all might ingest by drinking from PET bottles or eating out of single-use disposable containers.
As an observational study, the research doesn’t establish cause and effect. Nobody can claim the difference in microplastic load is solely, or even partially responsible for the symptoms of diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and abdominal cramping associated with the illness.
It’s even possible having IBD might make it harder to clear the build-up of plastic detritus that accumulates in our diets.
Liters or Soda and cheap Bottled Water.
Who’s checking?