NANOPLASTIC & HEART ATTACK & STROKE RISK
- Nicola Swanson
- Mar 16
- 2 min read
Several years ago i travelled to Tonga where i got talking to a marine biologist who was there researching the impact of dumped plastic on fish not growing to previous sizes. He was finding that the reason older fish weren’t growing to size was because their guts were full of plastic. A terrible example of just one of the dangers of dumping rubbish into the sea.
So reading this article many years later i was struck by the irony. As we poison our world so too do we poison ourselves. As we pollute our worlds oceans, so to do we pollute our internal rivers and oceans of our circulatory system and hearts.
What did the research find?
The analysis found that the concentration of micronanoplastics in carotid arteries was:
16 times higher (895 micrograms/gram vs. 57 micrograms/gram) in plaque among people without symptoms compared to the levels found in artery walls of deceased tissue donors of similar age with no plaque; and
In people who had experienced stroke, mini-stroke, or vision loss, the plaque had 51 times more plastic.
Previous research has found that people with microplastics in their arterial plaque were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke or die.
“These types of plastics are commonly found in the environment, especially in ocean garbage patches. Over many years, these plastics break down, mix into the soil and water, and can build up in the food chain,” said lead study author Ross Clark, M.D., M.B.A., R.P.V.I., a vascular surgeon-scientist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
“Many people think that micro and nanoplastics mainly come from using plastic utensils, cutting boards, packaging, water bottles and other plastic items. However, the main source is the food and water we eat and drink.”
Ways to reduce microplastic exposure:
I’d still recommend reducing your plastic exposures from plastic utensils, cutting boards, packaging, water bottles.
Instead store food in cupboard’s, fridge & freezers in glass
Buy a metal based water bottle
Get a water filter that clears microplastics out
Recycle your soft plastics by returning them to supermarkets like Woolworths!!
Shine bright!
Nic
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