Is the world being destroyed?

From the great depths of the ocean to the top of Mount Everest, microplastics have been found almost everywhere on the planet. Now, scientists have discovered the tiny plastic particles inside our clogged arteries. The discovery was made by researchers from the University of Campania, who studied more than 200 people undergoing surgeries to clear a major artery in the neck. The study found that nearly 60 per cent of the patients had microplastics or even smaller nanoplastics in a main artery, as per Scientific American.

The study has been published in New England Journal of Medicine.

It said that patients who were found with microplastics in their arteries were 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, a stroke or death in the approximately 34 months after the surgery than were those whose arteries were plastic-free.

"To date, our study is the first that associated the plastic contamination with human diseases," said Raffaele Marfella, lead author of the study.

"Our data must be confirmed by other studies and on larger populations. However, our study convincingly highlights the presence of plastics and their association with cardiovascular events in a representative population affected by atherosclerosis," he further said.

Paediatrician Dr Philip Landrigan, professor of biology at Boston College and director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good and the Global Observatory on Planetary Health, said the study provided evidence that tiny plastics may be associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes in humans.

"Although we do not know what other exposures may have contributed to the adverse outcomes among patients in this study, the finding of microplastics and nanoplastics in plaque tissue is itself a breakthrough discovery that raises a series of urgent questions," Dr Landrigan wrote in the study.


In humans, microplastics have been found in the blood and in organs such as the lungs and placenta.

Dangers of microplastics

According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the tiny particles of plastic less than 5 millimetres in size, have infiltrated our oceans, soil, and even the air we breathe.

Inside the human body, microplastics can invade individual cells and tissues in major organs, potentially interrupting cellular processes and depositing endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants and heavy metals.

• Scientists have discerned certain systems that, if they collapse, would spell doom for humanity’s future on Earth.
• A new study analyzes the possibility of such a collapse by creating models surrounding four of these pillars: the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and Amazon Rainforest, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
• The study finds that such a collapse is concerningly likely under current climate policies, and that probability reportedly increases dramatically every tenth of a degree Celsius we blow past our 1.5-degree goal.

If our exploration of the cosmos has taught us one thing, it’s that creating life isn’t easy. First, you need the right chemical conditions (and potentially some cloud-to-ground volcanic lightning) to get things going. But to create complex, intelligent organisms, you need a planet whose climate is relatively stable—allowing for a particularly big-brained species to grow into cultures, then into countries, and then (hopefully) into a planet-wide, peace-loving collective a la Star Trek.

But before we can hop into our Starship Enterprise and explore the galaxy, humanity—as well as every other living thing on this planet—needs climatic stability. And sadly, that’s something the “big-brained” species on Earth is doing a pretty poor job of managing.

To emphasize what a bang-up job we’re doing, scientists have previously identified several tipping points (not to be confused with planetary boundaries, which to put it mildly, are also bad news) that pertain to the certain global climate systems that have kept things running smoothly throughout history.

Four of those pillars of stability are the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Greenland Ice Sheet, and Amazon Rainforest, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—the ocean current system that keeps Europe several degrees warmer than it otherwise would be. A new study published earlier this month in the journal Nature focused on these elements, and discerned the probabilities of their collapse and the impact on the future habitability of the planet. The results were ... not good.

The paper reads:

“Under current emission trajectories, temporarily overshooting the Paris global warming limit of 1.5 °C is a distinct possibility. Permanently exceeding this limit would substantially increase the probability of triggering climate tipping elements. Achieving and maintaining at least net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2100 is paramount to minimize tipping risk in the long term.”

The study creates a new set of models that treats each of these systems like the pillars they are—that is, if one falls, the rest soon follow suit due to the interconnected nature of each system. According to the paper, “current climate policies until 2100 may lead to high tipping risks,” and that even includes the scenario in which humans get their act together and keep temperature rise below the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold by 2300. In other words, many of these tipping points represent a “point of no return.” Once the tipping point is reached, there is no going back.

The researchers mark the tipping possibility at 45 percent until 2300, and a whopping 76 percent in the long term. Additionally, the study finds that there would be a non-linear acceleration of these percentages for every 0.1 degree Celsius that overshoots the current climate goals. Each tenth of a degree beyond the 2 degree Celsius threshold, for example, adds an additional 3 percent tipping risk, according to the study. The only way to curtail this long-term disaster? Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2100.

A recent article published by The New York Times detailed how humanity was already entering many threshold ranges for certain tipping points—including the mass death of coral reefs, the abrupt thawing of permafrost, the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the break up of West Antarctic Ice. The outlook is far from rosy, and while it’s too late to escape this period of anthropogenic global warming unscathed (there are already millions of climate refugees), we have the tools, the science, and the know-how to start treating this climate crisis as the existential threat that it is.

Otherwise, as these new models depressingly predict, any sort of galaxy-traipsing utopian vision could be forever out of our reach.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.

Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.

Given the research findings, “it is now imperative to declare a global emergency” to deal with plastic pollution, said Sedat Gündoğdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey.

Humans are exposed to microplastics – defined as fragments smaller than 5mm in diameter – and the chemicals used to make plastics from widespread plastic pollution in air, water and even food.

The health hazards of microplastics within the human body are not yet well-known. Recent studies are just beginning to suggest they could increase the risk of various conditions such as oxidative stress, which can lead to cell damage and inflammation, as well as cardiovascular disease.

Animal studies have also linked microplastics to fertility issues, various cancers, a disrupted endocrine and immune system, and impaired learning and memory.

There are currently no governmental standards for plastic particles in food or water in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on crafting guidelines for measuring them, and has been giving out grants since 2018 to develop new ways to quickly detect and quantify them.

Finding microplastics in more and more human organs “raises a lot of concerns”, given what we know about health effects in animals, studies of human cells in the lab, and emerging epidemiological studies, said Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “It’s scary, I’d say.”

‘Pretty alarming’

In one of the latest studies to emerge – a pre-print paper still undergoing peer review that is posted online by the National Institutes of Health – researchers found a particularly concerning accumulation of microplastics in brain samples.

An examination of the livers, kidneys and brains of autopsied bodies found that all contained microplastics, but the 91 brain samples contained on average about 10 to 20 times more than the other organs. The results came as a shock, according to the study’s lead author Matthew Campen, a toxicologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico.

The researchers found that 24 of the brain samples, which were collected in early 2024, measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight.

“It’s pretty alarming,” Campen said. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”

The study describes the brain as “one of the most plastic-polluted tissues yet sampled”.

The pre-print brain study led by Campen also hinted at a concerning link. In the study, researchers looked at 12 brain samples from people who had died with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. These brains contained up to 10 times more plastic by weight than healthy samples.

“I don’t know how much more plastic our brain can stuff in without it causing some problems,” Campen said.

The paper also found the quantity of microplastics in brain samples from 2024 was about 50% higher from the total in samples that date to 2016, suggesting the concentration of microplastics found in human brains is rising at a similar rate to that found in the environment. Most of the organs came from the office of the medical investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which investigates untimely or violent deaths.

“You can draw a line – it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,” Campen said.

Many other papers have found microplastics in the brains of other animal species, so it’s not entirely surprising the same could be true for humans, said Almroth of the University of Gothenburg, who was not involved in the paper.

When it comes to these insidious particles, “the blood-brain barrier is not as protective as we’d like to think”, Almroth said, referring to the series of membranes that keep many chemicals and pathogens from reaching the central nervous system.

Explosion of research

Adding to the concerns about accumulation in the human body, the Journal of Hazardous Materials published a study last month that found microplastics in all 16 samples of bone marrow examined, the first paper of its kind. All the samples contained polystyrene, used to make packing for peanuts and electronics, and almost all contained polyethylene, used in clear food wrap, detergent bottles and other common household products.

Another recent paper looking at 45 patients undergoing hip or knee surgery in Beijing, China, found microplastics in the membranous lining of every single hip or knee joint examined.

A study published on 15 May in the journal Toxicological Sciences found microplastics in all 23 human and 47 canine testicles studied, finding that samples from people had a nearly threefold greater concentration than those from dogs. A higher quantity of certain types of plastic particles – including polyethylene, the main component of plastic water bottles – correlated with lower testicular weights in dogs.

Another paper, which appeared on 19 June in the International Journal of Impotence Research, detected plastic particles in the penises of four out of five men getting penile implants to treat erectile dysfunction.

“The potential health effects are concerning, especially considering the unknown long-term consequences of microplastics accumulating in sensitive tissues like the reproductive organs,” said Ranjith Ramasamy, the study’s lead author and a medical researcher and urologist at the University of Miami.

Meanwhile, a Chinese group published a study in May showing small quantities of microplastics in the semen of all 40 participants. An Italian paper from a few months prior reported similar results.

A handful of studies have also now found contamination in human placentas. A study that appeared in the May issue of Toxicological Sciences reported finding micro- and nanoplastics in all 62 placental samples, though the concentration ranged widely.

In Italy, researchers followed 312 patients who had fatty deposits, or plaques, removed from their carotid artery. Almost six in 10 had microplastics, and these people fared worse than those who did not: Over the next 34 months, they were 2.1 times as likely to experience a heart attack or stroke, or die.

‘Nowhere left untouched’

The Food and Drug Administration says in a statement on its website that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.”

Still, researchers say that individuals should try to reduce their exposure by avoiding the use of plastic in preparing food, especially when microwaving; drinking tap water instead of bottled water; and trying to prevent the accumulation of dust, which is contaminated with plastics. Some researchers advise eating less meat, especially processed products.

Leonardo Trasande, a medical researcher at New York University, said much remains unknown about the impacts of microplastic accumulation in humans. The negative health impacts of chemicals used in plastics, such as phthalates, are better established, though, he said. A study he co-authored found exposure to phthalates had increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in the United States, causing $39bn or more in lost productivity per year.

Microplastic particles can be contaminated with and carry such chemicals into the body. “The micro- and nanoplastics may be effective delivery systems for toxic chemicals,” Trasande said.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic and chemical manufacturers, did not directly respond to questions about the recent studies finding microplastics in human organs. Kimberly Wise White, a vice-president with the group, noted that “the global plastics industry is dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of microplastics”.

The United Nations Environment Assembly agreed two years ago to begin working toward a global treaty to end plastic pollution, a process that is ongoing.

Several news reports in the last week suggest that the Biden administration has signaled that the US delegation involved in the discussions will support measures to reduce global production of plastics, which researchers say is critical to getting a handle on the problem.

“There’s nowhere left untouched from the deep sea to the atmosphere to the human brain,” Almroth said.

The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people’s bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South.

It’s enough pollution each year — about 52 million metric tons — to fill New York City’s Central Park with plastic waste as high as the Empire State Building, according to researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. They examined waste produced on the local level at more than 50,000 cities and towns across the world for a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature.

The study examined plastic that goes into the open environment, not plastic that goes into landfills or is properly burned. For 15% of the world’s population, government fails to collect and dispose of waste, the study’s authors said — a big reason Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa produce the most plastic waste. That includes 255 million people in India, the study said.

Lagos, Nigeria, emitted the most plastic pollution of any city, according to study author Costas Velis, a Leeds environmental engineering professor. The other biggest plastic polluting cities are New Delhi; Luanda, Angola; Karachi, Pakistan and Al Qahirah, Egypt.

India leads the world in generating plastic pollution, producing 10.2 million tons a year (9.3 million metric tons), far more than double the next big-polluting nations, Nigeria and Indonesia. China, often villainized for pollution, ranks fourth but is making tremendous strides in reducing waste, Velis said. Other top plastic polluters are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and Brazil. Those eight nations are responsible for more than half of the globe’s plastic pollution, according to the study’s data.

City workers remove garbage floating on the Negro River, which has a rising water level due to rain, in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, June 6, 2022.

The United States ranks 90th in plastic pollution with more than 52,500 tons (47,600 metric tons) and the United Kingdom ranks 135th with nearly 5,100 tons (4,600 metric tons), according to the study.

In 2022, most of the world’s nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November.

The study used artificial intelligence to concentrate on plastics that were improperly burned — about 57% of the pollution — or just dumped. In both cases incredibly tiny microplastics, or nanoplastics, are what turn the problem from a visual annoyance at beaches and a marine life problem to a human health threat, Velis said.

A volunteer stands on top of a pile of rubbish collected that day while participating in the Plastic Cup event near Tiszaroff, Hungary, Aug. 2, 2023.

Several studies this year have looked at how prevalent microplastics are in our drinking water and in people’s tissue, such as hearts, brains and testicles, with doctors and scientists still not quite sure what it means in terms of human health threats.

“The big time bomb of microplastics are these microplastics released in the Global South mainly,” Velis said. “We already have a huge dispersal problem. They are in the most remote places ... the peaks of Everest, in the Mariana Trench in the ocean, in what we breathe and what we eat and what we drink.”

He called it “everybody’s problem” and one that will haunt future generations.

“We shouldn’t put the blame, any blame, on the Global South,” Velis said. “And we shouldn’t praise ourselves about what we do in the Global North in any way.”

A volunteer picks up trash on a river which is covered with trash at Pecatu, Bali, Indonesia, March 22, 2024.

It’s just a lack of resources and ability of government to provide the necessary services to citizens, Velis said.

Outside experts worried that the study’s focus on pollution, rather than overall production, lets the plastics industry off the hook. Making plastics emits large amounts of greenhouse gas that contribute to climate change.

“These guys have defined plastic pollution in a much narrower way, as really just macroplastics that are emitted into the environment after the consumer, and it risks us losing our focus on the upstream and saying, hey now all we need to do is manage the waste better,” said Neil Tangri, senior director of science and policy at GAIA, a global network of advocacy organizations working on zero waste and environmental justice initiatives. “It’s necessary but it’s not the whole story.”

Theresa Karlsson, science and technical advisor to International Pollutants Elimination Network, another coalition of advocacy groups on environment, health and waste issues, called the volume of pollution identified by the study “alarming” and said it shows the amount of plastics being produced today is “unmanageable.”

But she said the study misses the significance of the global trade in plastic waste that has rich countries sending it to poor ones. The study said plastic waste trade is decreasing, with China banning waste imports. But Karlsson said overall waste trade is actually increasing and likely plastics with it. She cited EU waste exports going from 110,000 tons (100,000 metric tons) in 2004 to 1.4 million tons (1.3 million metric tons) in 2021.

Nina Gomes recovers a discarded plastic bag from ocean waters, near Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 19, 2024.

Velis said the amount of plastic waste traded is small. Kara Lavender Law, an oceanography professor at the Sea Education Association who wasn’t involved in the study, agreed, based on U.S. plastic waste trends. She said this was otherwise one of the more comprehensive studies on plastic waste.

Officials in the plastics industry praised the study.

“This study underscores that uncollected and unmanaged plastic waste is the largest contributor to plastic pollution and that prioritizing adequate waste management is critical to ending plastic pollution,” Chris Jahn, council secretary of the International Council on Chemical Associations, said in a statement. In treaty negotiations, the industry opposes a cap on plastic production.

The United Nations projects that plastics production is likely to rise from about 440 million tons (400 million metric tons) a year to more than 1,200 million tons (1,100 million metric tons, saying “our planet is choking in plastic.”