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Plastic as packaging for our food. Plastic is in our kitchen appliances, which we use to prepare our meals. Plastic in the air from furniture abrasion. Plastic is in our cosmetic products. Plastic in fine dust. Plastic is all around us – and inside us too. We ingest microplastics and nanoplastics every day, mainly through breathing and eating. Around five grams, the weight of a credit card, enter the gastrointestinal tract every week.
“We have found, for example, that hyper-processed foods such as ready meals contain more micro- and nanoplastics per se. These get into the food during the manufacturing process,” explains Associate Professor Verena Pichler from the University of Vienna and CBmed. We excrete most of the plastic. A small portion remains in the body. Nanoplastic particles smaller than five micrometers in particular enter the bloodstream.
The team led by study leaders Verena Pichler and Prof. Lukas Kenner (MedUni Vienna, CBmed, Vetmeduni Vienna) investigated the interactions between micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) and various colon cancer cells. In their analyses, they were not only able to show how MNPs penetrate the cell and where exactly they are deposited, but they also observed their direct effects: Like other “waste products” in the body, MNPs are taken up by lysosomes. Lysosomes are cell organelles, also known as the “cell’s stomach,” which break down foreign bodies in the cell.
“The body sometimes takes a very long time to excrete MNPs because it does not recognize them as toxins. The problem is that the longer they remain in the body, the longer they can cause damage,” says Lukas Kenner. Depending on various factors, MNPs are even passed on to newly formed cells during cell division. They are therefore likely to be more persistent in the human body than initially assumed.
Nanoplastics more dangerous
In addition, there is evidence that MNPs increase the migration of cancer cells to other parts of the body, thereby potentially promoting the metastasis of tumors. “Tumor cells are influenced by plastic in such a way that they can move faster,” says Pichler. It is undisputed that plastic particles are more harmful the smaller they are. The altered behavior of colon cancer cells was observed primarily with plastic particles smaller than one micrometer (= 0.001 mm). Particles of this size are usually referred to as nanoplastics, which occur 10 to 100 times more frequently than microplastics in a water bottle, for example.
“Our study also confirms recent findings that suggest MNPs can influence cell behavior and may contribute to the progression of diseases,” adds Lukas Kenner. Further studies are now being conducted to investigate the long-term effects in particular. Pichler: “It can be assumed that MNPs have a chronic toxicity.” Unfortunately, there are no studies yet that show what can be done to promote the body’s own excretion of plastic. Kenner comments: “The only thing we can do is take preventive measures to avoid plastic as much as possible.”
- source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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