Consuming food to carry in plastic containers could significantly increase the risk of congestive heart failure, according to a recent study of the Medical University of Ningxia, China. These findings contribute to growing evidence on the harmful effects of health chemicals in health.
The researchers surveyed more than 3,000 Chinese citizens to evaluate the possible relationship between frequent exposure to plastic and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. They discovered that people with high exposure to such material have 13% more likely to develop heart failures.
The specialists conducted an essay with laboratory rats to confirm these results. They poured boiling water in food plastic containers in periods of one, five and 15 minutes to extract chemicals from the containers. The rodents consumed the resulting liquid for several months.
The experts analyzed the intestinal bioma and the metabolites present in the feces of the animals. The researchers found that “the intake of these leachate altered the intestinal microenvironment, affected the composition of the microbiota and modified the intestinal metabolites,” according to the study published In the magazine Science.
The authors also examined the cardiac tissue of the rats. They detected a Increase in the number of inflammatory cells and damage to mitochondria. “These changes in myocardium, together with alterations in intestinal microbiota and metabolites, are closely related to the development of cardiovascular diseases,” they explain.
Plastic can contain about 20,000 chemical substances, many of them harmful to health. These substances, present in the packaging, usually leakes to food. Compounds such as bisphenol A, phthalates and PFA (perfluoroalcoxi) have been associated with cancer and with affectations in reproductive systems.
While the study does not identify the specific chemicals that leaked from plastics, cites previous research that expands the panorama of the problem. One of them reveals that up to 4.2 million microplastic particles per square centimeter can detach from plastic containers when they heat up in microwave ovens.
Microplastics have been widely identified in flesh, water and various agricultural products. However, specialists warn that the risk is higher in packaged food “ready to consume”, or that is exposed to heat sources within these containers.
Public Health defenders argue that it is essential to implement policies that reduce the use of plastic. Each year there are more than 500 million tons of this material worldwidebut only 9% is recycled. Mass manufacturing and lack of reuse mechanisms have favored the proliferation of microplastics in the environment.
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