Microplastics Found Deep in Lungs ofLiving People For First Time

何美蘭

Microplastic pollution has been discovered lodgeddeep in the lungs of living people for the first time. The particleswere found in almost all the samples analysed.

The scientists said microplastic pollution was nowubiquitous across the planet， making human exposure unavoidableand meaning“there is an increasing concern regardingthe hazards”to health.

Samples were taken from tissue removed from 13 patientsundergoing surgery and microplastics were found in11 cases. The most common particles were polypropylene，used in plastic packaging and pipes， and PET， used in bottles.Two previous studies had found microplastics at similarlyhigh rates in lung tissue taken during autopsies.

People were already known to breathe in the tiny particles，as well as consuming them via food and water. Workersexposed to high levels of microplastics are also knownto have developed disease.

Microplastics were detected in human blood for thefirst time in March， showing the particles can travel aroundthe body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health isas yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as micro-plastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory andair pollution particles are already known to enter the bodyand cause millions of early deaths a year.

“We did not expect to find the highest number of particlesin the lower regions of the lungs， or particles of the sizeswe found，”said Laura Sadofsky at Hull York medicalschool in the UK， a senior author of the study.“It is surprisingas the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungsand we would have expected particles of these sizes to befiltered out or trapped before getting this deep.”

“This data provides an important advance in the fieldof air pollution， microplastics and human health，”she said.The information could be used to create realistic conditionsfor laboratory experiments to determine health impacts.

A 2021 study in Brazil on autopsy samples found microplasticsin 13 of the 20 people analysed. Polyethylene，used in plastic bags， was one of the most common particles.

A US study of lung cancer patients in 1998 found plasticand plant fibres （such as cotton） in more than 100 samples.In cancerous tissue， 97% of samples contained the fibresand in non-cancerous samples， 83% were contaminated.

Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment，and microplastics contaminate the entire planet，from the summit of Qomolangma to the deepest oceans. Microplasticshave been found in the placentas of pregnantwomen， and in pregnant rats they pass rapidly through thelungs into the hearts， brains and other organs of the foetuses.

科學(xué)家首次在活人肺部深處發(fā)現(xiàn)微塑料污染。這些微塑料顆粒出現(xiàn)在幾乎所有接受分析的樣本中。

科學(xué)家指出，微塑料污染如今在地球上無所不在，不可避免地會(huì)殃及人類，這意味著微塑料造成的健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)“引發(fā)的擔(dān)憂與日俱增”。

科學(xué)家從13名接受手術(shù)的患者體內(nèi)切下的組織中獲取了樣本，并在其中11例樣本中發(fā)現(xiàn)了微塑料。最常見的微塑料是用于塑料包裝和管道的聚丙烯以及用于制作塑料瓶的聚對(duì)苯二甲酸乙二醇酯。先前的兩項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，微塑料也同樣廣泛地出現(xiàn)在尸檢時(shí)切下的肺組織中。

眾所周知，人們會(huì)吸入小顆粒物，并會(huì)通過食物和水?dāng)z入微塑料。據(jù)悉，暴露在大量微塑料環(huán)境中的工人會(huì)因此而得病。

今年三月科學(xué)家首次在人類血液中檢測(cè)到微塑料，這表明微塑料可以在人體內(nèi)游走并在器官里沉積。目前尚不明確血液中的微塑料對(duì)健康的影響。但是研究人員對(duì)此感到擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)槲⑺芰蠒?huì)損傷實(shí)驗(yàn)室環(huán)境中的人體細(xì)胞，而且眾所周知，空氣污染顆粒物會(huì)進(jìn)入人體，每年導(dǎo)致數(shù)百萬人早逝。

該研究的資深作者、英國赫爾約克醫(yī)學(xué)院的勞拉·薩多夫斯基說：“我們沒想到會(huì)在肺部深處發(fā)現(xiàn)這么多微塑料，也沒想到微塑料的顆粒會(huì)這么大。

這很令人驚訝，因?yàn)榉尾可钐幍臍獾栏覀円詾檫@么大顆粒的微塑料在進(jìn)入肺部深處前會(huì)被過濾掉或被卡在外面。”

她說：“這些數(shù)據(jù)是空氣污染、微塑料和人類健康領(lǐng)域的一個(gè)重要進(jìn)展。”該信息可用于打造接近現(xiàn)實(shí)的實(shí)驗(yàn)條件，以確定微塑料對(duì)健康的影響。

2021年巴西的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在分析的20例尸檢樣本中發(fā)現(xiàn)13例樣本含有微塑料。用于塑料袋的聚乙烯是這些樣本中最常見的微塑料之一。

1998年美國對(duì)肺癌患者的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在100 多個(gè)樣本中發(fā)現(xiàn)了塑料和植物纖維（比如棉花），分別有97%的癌組織樣本和83%的非癌組織樣本含有這些纖維。

海量的塑料垃圾被傾倒入環(huán)境中，微塑料污染了整個(gè)地球，從珠穆朗瑪峰之巔到海洋最深處。科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，微塑料甚至存在于孕婦的胎盤中，在懷孕的老鼠體內(nèi)，微塑料可經(jīng)由肺部快速進(jìn)入胎兒的心臟、大腦和其他器官中。