Dear Subscriber,
I have written many pieces on plastic and microplastics and the contamination worldwide in the environment. I have warned that it might be our biggest environmental calamity. We are dealing with forever, or nearly forever compounds which break down in sun, in oceans, by wind, etc. into smaller and smaller pieces. They have been found deep in human tissues and organs. Source? Oral ingestion and inhalation. They float in the atmosphere. They are now lining the seabed and in the fossil record. Now, we know they are also in your newborn.
Previously I reported on broken down plastic entering your inner tissues. But alas, even the newborns are at great risk. We see in recent articles that microplastics cross the placenta in both humans and animals, and lodge into internal organs. This has been observed in rodents. According to my readings, this is even more alarming for humans as rodents have a stronger placenta barrier than do we.
These microplastics can become endocrine disruptors, act similar to asbestos in becoming a foundation for chronic inflammation where they lodge. In animal neonates, the particles are found in liver, kidneys, hearts, lungs and brains so far.
This is an untreatable disaster. Molecular toxins like pesticides, hydrocarbons, and even heavy metals can be detoxed to a degree, but there is nothing that can rid particulates. Yes, I have libertarian tendencies, but that does not mean that corporations should be free to destroy the planet. To the contrary, I have an unalienable Right to Life. That means that government is instituted to protect me, and my offspring, from environmental destruction. The research shows that much of the plastic accumulation in us is coming from the seafood we eat, which sea animals are eating plastic we are pouring into the ocean. There is no escape from this anywhere on the planet. Plastic fibers blow in the atmosphere. Only time will tell the degree of the calamity we face, and we will only know it if we actually look for it, instead of hiding our faces in the sand.
To Your Excellent Health,
Robert Jay Rowen, MD
Sources:
Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimeters deriving from the degradation of plastic objects present in the environment. Microplastics can move from the environment to living organisms, including mammals. In this study, six human placentas, collected from consenting women with physiological pregnancies, were analyzed by Raman Microspectroscopy to evaluate the presence of microplastics. In total, 12 microplastic fragments (ranging from 5 to 10 μm in size), with spheric or irregular shape were found in 4 placentas (5 in the fetal side, 4 in the maternal side and 3 in the chorioamniotic membranes); all microplastics particles were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical composition. All of them were pigmented; three were identified as stained polypropylene a thermoplastic polymer, while for the other nine it was possible to identify only the pigments, which were all used for man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297
These findings demonstrate that ingested nanoscale polystyrene MNPs can breach the intestinal barrier and subsequently the maternal–fetal barrier of the placenta to access the fetal circulation and all fetal tissues. Further studies are needed to assess the mechanisms of MNP translocation across the intestinal and placental barriers, the effects of MNP polymer, size and other physicochemical properties on translocation, as well as the potential adverse effects of MNP translocation on the developing fetus.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368521005_Ingested_Polystyrene_Nanospheres_Translocate_to_Placenta_and_Fetal_Tissues_in_Pregnant_Rats_Potential_Health_Implications
A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies, by Matt Simon, published by Island Press, is an unusually thoroughly researched book which is written with the general public in mind. Please consider reading it, and please don't let the author's global warming comments, which are thankfully few, deter you. I didn't know how bad the plastics problem has become.
Maybe we have to take supplements of good microplastics to crowd out the bad ones.