Alarming new evidence is emerging about the possible harm caused by widespread plastic pollution, scientists said on Friday.
Significant levels of microscopic plastic particles are found in many human organs, including the placenta, while adverse health effects appear in animals.
The average person now consumes about 5 grams of microplastics a week – put in food and drinks and inhaled by breathing polluted air – Professor Philip Demokritou of Rutgers University told the American Association for the Advancement of Science at its annual meeting in Washington.
“What’s surprising is that microplastics enter cells and disrupt the cell’s nucleus, which raises concerns about potential DNA damage,” he said. “Another alarming example is that it can interfere with digestion and the absorption of important nutrients.”
On Friday, scientists at the Natural History Museum in London announced the discovery of a new disease in seabirds caused solely by the ingestion of plastic. They called the condition plasticosis – a fibrotic disease caused by small pieces of plastic that inflame the digestive tract. The constant inflammation damages the tissue, which becomes scarred and deformed.
Studying shearwaters meat feet on Lord Howe Island Australia, they found that the proventriculus – the first part of the birds’ stomach – has spread scarring. Birds that ingest plastic are more scarred.
“While these birds may look healthy on the outside, they are not doing well on the inside,” said Alex Bond, the museum’s curator of birds. “This study is the first time that stomach tissue has been investigated in this way and shows that the consumption of plastic can cause serious damage to the digestive system of these birds.”
Affected birds become more susceptible to infections and parasites, while losing some capacity to digest food and absorb vitamins.
At the AAAS meeting Luisa Campagnolo from the University of Rome Tor Vergata described new research by Italian scientists who found small plastic particles from various sources in the human placenta collected from six normal pregnant women.
Another study identified plastic particles “not only in the placental tissue but also in the meconium, the baby’s first feces – which means that the particles can pass through the placenta to the fetus”, said Campagnolo.
“Many different types of plastic particles were identified,” he added. “The most abundant is PVC but basically all other types of plastic that are part of everyday consumer products are there.”
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, a UK conservation group, said the research “confirms fears that we are witnessing the start of a plastic problem. Our seas, rivers and countryside are already polluted with plastic. Research shows how humans and wildlife consume microplastics through food , drink and breathe.