Can Tiny Plastics Harm Our Health?

Humans may be ingesting microplastics and nanoplastics, such as through water bottles and food containers, and new research shows they can make their way into organs because of their small size.

As early as four weeks after drinking bottled water with microplastics, a study in Environmental Health Perspectives showed that these tiny pieces of plastic could be found in the brain, liver, and kidneys.

“While we now know that they may be present in our bodies thanks to new research, people could be passing plastics without having any health issues,” says Dr. Adam Blumenberg, an emergency medicine physician and toxicology specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “But we are going to see more research in the next few months to years that can help address unknowns in terms of health.”

Plastics breaks down over time and form microplastics that are smaller than a sesame seed, according to the National Institutes of Health. Microplastics eventually break down as well and this process results in the formation of nanoplastics. “It can be hard to imagine just how tiny microplastics and nanoplastics are,” says Dr. Blumenberg. “The largest microplastics are the width of the thinnest mechanical pencil lead, but most of them are so small that it would take 10 to 20 of them to span the same pencil lead.”

With the help of a new imaging technique, researchers who conducted a study published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showed that there are about 240,000 fragments of plastics in a liter of bottled water – 90% are nanoplastics. The study found several different types of plastics, including polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, and polystyrene in bottled water, which are used during packaging, water filtering or purification processes.

“Before this development, there were no tools that could determine how many nanoplastics there were in each water bottle,” says Dr. Blumenberg. “Tools like these let researchers detect tiny plastics more accurately and can help determine the degree of the issue in terms of health. Are microplastics and nanoplastics a big deal, a medium deal, or a little deal? We just don’t know yet, but as scientists study this question more, we will have a better sense of the scale of the problem.”

Preliminary research so far has shed some light on potential health effects of microplastics and nanoplastics. A study involving over 200 patients published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine found that those who had microplastics and nanoplastics in their arteries had a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

While researchers are working to understand the health risks of consuming plastic particles, there are “a lot of additives and chemicals in plastics, such as per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS), bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalates, which evidence shows does harm human health,” says Dr. Blumenberg.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exposure to PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, has been linked to cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children. Exposure to BPA has been associated with hypertension and diabetes, and phthalates with effects on the reproductive system.

PFAS, BPA and phthalates are also three out of around 1,000 human-made chemicals that are endocrine disruptors. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences describes these as chemicals that may mimic, block, or interfere with the body’s hormones, which are part of the endocrine system.

To reduce exposure to PFAS, the EPA recently announced a water standard that will require states in the U.S. to limit these forever chemicals from tap water, which could protect about 100 million people. “The problem with additives and chemicals is that these substances are in a lot of products and even in our environment – there are communities in the U.S. where people have gotten sick from drinking water tainted by companies dumping PFAS-containing waste into the water table,” says Dr. Blumenberg. “This is a tough problem to address, but supporting our nation’s regulatory agencies like the EPA is the best way to minimize exposure to our citizens. You can contact your representative and let them know this is important to you.”

When going about day-to-day life, it may be difficult to find drinks or food that are not encapsulated by plastics, additives, and chemicals. But Dr. Blumenberg says there are easy ways to reduce exposure, such as by drinking tap water, if it is safe to do so, and switching to glass and stainless-steel bottles.

“If you ever have questions about a possible exposure to a toxic substance or just want more information from a trained specialist, call your poison center at 1 (800) 222 – 1222,” adds Dr. Blumenberg.

Adam Blumenberg, M.D., is an emergency medicine physician and toxicology specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is also an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Blumenberg’s clinical interests include resuscitation of critically ill poisoned patients, trauma resuscitation, diagnosis, and evidence-based medicine. His research interests include new psychoactive substances, educational methods, and toxicology. His educational interests include medical simulation, creation of medical educational media (software, video, podcast, blog), and clinical teaching.