Animal immune cells fight organ damage by micro and nanoplastic, although, on the other hand, this defense method can cause serious effects in their body. A recent study published in Science Advances He found that mice phagocytes encapsulate the waste of artificial polymers that travel through their bloodstream, but this process can derive in brain thrombosis.
Microplastics are polymers waste less than 5 millimeters long, the result of decades of production of non -biodegradable plastics. Over time, these disintegrate in tiny molecules that are incorporated into each stratum of the food chain. Researchers have found microplastics in the sky, rain, sea and inside fish, birds, amphibians and mammals. Humans also have waste in their bodies, although health consequences are not yet clear.
In the most recent experiment To understand the effects of plastic waste in an organism, a biologists team from the University of Beijing, China, monitored its behavior in a mouse litter. Until now it is theorized that microplastics decompose into smaller parts, of nanometric scale, allowing access to vital organs such as the brain.
In the experiment, the polystyrene particles invading the mice were dyed with a fluorescent color to be visible under the microscope. The image technique, called miniature microscopy of two photons, tracked microplastics from the digestive tract to the bloodstream.
Neutrophils and phagocytes, immune system cells, wrapped the particles to protect the guest body. However, by crossing the thin blood vessels, some of these cells were trapped, generating clots in the brain. Haipeng Huang, main author of the article, compared the process with a car accident in the blood vessels.
The team emphasizes that these results do not imply that humans may suffer cerebral thrombosis by microplastics. However, they warn that it is essential to continue studying polymers pollution in the body. Until now, microplastics have been identified in the reproductive and digestive devices of humans. In mice, its presence has been linked to inflammation, anxiety and docility.
“The authors consider urgent to increase research in this area. For my part, I would also add future studies on the possible effects that chemical additives associated with these microplastics can cause. According to the results of previous studies of our research group, we know that several of the chemical additives used as flame retarders or plasticizers are able to cross the hematoencephalic membrane and reach the brain. And several of these compounds are known to produce neurotoxic effects, “said Ethel Eljarrat, director of the Environmental Diagnostic Institute and Water Studies, which did not participate in the study, to Science Media Center (SMC) Spain.
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