Microplastics even cling to the walls of our vessels

After the identification of microplastics in placentas, Italian surgeons have just found them in the deposits which accumulate dangerously on the walls of the arteries.

New enemies are infiltrating our blood vessels: plastic microparticles. Details from Géraldine Zamansky, journalist at the Health Magazine on France 5.

franceinfo: Italian surgeons found plastic microparticles while cleaning the arteries that irrigate the brain?

Geraldine Zamansky: Yes, it’s a worrying new publication, in the prestigious journal of New England Journal of Medicine, which even associated it with a warning editorial. Because after previous discoveries of these micropollutants in the placenta, lungs or heart, an Italian team found them on the wall of the carotid arteries, which bring blood to the brain.

Normally, when they have to unblock these vessels, surgeons instead remove deposits linked to our diet, such as cholesterol. There, they identified these tiny plastic particles in nearly 60% of the 257 operated patients. And above all, over just 3 years of follow-up, this “plasticization” was associated with a 4.5 times higher risk of having a heart attack, a stroke, and dying.

And does this team explain why “plastic” would be more dangerous than cholesterol in our arteries?

One of the designers of the study, Francesco Prattichizzo, presented their first hypotheses to me. First, these deposits contain less “cement”, in this case, collagen. Then pieces leave more easily in the blood circulation, to block one of the arteries which irrigate the heart, this is the infarction, or in the brain, this is the stroke.

Then, astonishing photos show that plastic nanoparticles were “swallowed” by white blood cells. Our immune cells have spotted a threat, but they cannot destroy it. And the team also measured other markers of inflammation, which can also contribute to overall instability.

Is all this caused by certain materials in particular?

Quite. While other teams identified more culprits in heart or liver biopsies, the Italian team only distinguished 2 types of plastic. Polyethylene and PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which are found in a large number of food and cosmetic packaging, for example. Both are already suspected of being harmful to human health.

To better decipher the mechanisms involved, Francesco Prattichizzo explained to me that they were already following a new group of patients, this time with several blood samples, and more investigation into their environment. To find out if other pollutants are present in the blood circulation, and what is their origin. The objective is to develop protection strategies as quickly as possible.