NOTE:
Microplastics is a
relatively new topic
for the scientific
community.
This is only the
second article here.
The first microplastics article
was about one month ago,
Health impacts of
tiny bits of plastics
in human bodies
are still unknown.
The new study,
summarized
here, offers no
information about
health implications
of microplastics
in the human body.
NEW STUDY:
Micro-plastics come from
industrial economies
where rubber and paints
are used.
The tiny fragments
end up in the sea,
get broken down
by waves and
ultraviolet radiation,
before absorbing
into the atmosphere,
then are captured
from the air
during cloud
development,
and eventually
fall to Earth
as precipitation.
The last article here
revealed high levels
of microplastics
in remote regions
of the world.
A new study,
"Detection of
Various
Microplastics
in Human Stool:
A Prospective
Case Series",
examined
human stool
from eight people
around the world.
" ... no sample
was free of
microplastics,"
wrote the team of scientists,
led by Dr. Philipp Schwabl
of the Medical University
of Vienna.
"Larger studies are needed
to validate these findings."
Volunteers came from
Japan, Russia,
the Netherlands,
the United Kingdom,
Italy, Poland, Finland,
and Austria.
None were vegetarians,
and six out of eight
had consumed
ocean-going fish.
Their daily food
must have been
the entry point
for microplastics,
( perhaps from
food wrappers
and bottles, and
their seafood
consumption).
Environment Agency
Austria examined
for 10 types of plastics.
As many as nine plastics
were found in sample stool,
ranging in size from
50 to 500 micrometers.
Schwabl said
the most common
plastics were
polypropylene
and polyethylene
terephthalate.
Each stool sample
contained an average
of about 20
microplastic particles
per 10g of stool.
