Researchers found that microplastics and nanoplastics can react with water to produce ‘highly reactive molecules’
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A study by researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley found that microplastics and nanoplastics could cause biological harm.
‘As plastic fragments into smaller and smaller particles, its surface area increases enormously,’ said Columbia professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering Wei Min.
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Then, microplastics change the water that surrounds them, generating high-energy, reactive radicals that very likely contribute to biological damage that we see in animals and potentially in humans as a result of microplastic exposure.’
Published in Nature journal, the study highlights how such mechanisms are noteworthy for human health, as human blood is around 50 per cent water. The new research suggests how microplastics entering the bloodstream or cells could remain chemically active in the water-rich environment.
The same researchers also led a 2024 study that found, on average, a litre of bottled water contained around 240,000 detectable plastic fragments, 10 to 100 times more than previously estimated.
Subsequent research in other journals has found links between microplastic and nanoplastic exposure and heart attacks, strokes, dementia and brain tumours.
A 2019 study found that, on average, some adults could potentially be consuming between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles a year.
Microplastics, explained
Microplastics are defined as any fragment of plastic between one nanometre and five millimetres wide. One nanometre is around a fraction of the width of a human hair, while five millimetres is about the width of a wedding band.
‘There is no part of the globe that does not have microplastics, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and everything in between,’ said director of the Centre for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Paul Anastas.
One estimate suggests that 2.7 million tonnes of microplastics leached into the environment in 2020 alone, a figure expected to double by 2040.
Research suggests nanoplastics – less than one micrometre across – could pass through human skin, but most microplastics enter the human body through ingestion and inhalation. They have been found in blood, saliva, livers, kidneys and placentas.
Studies have shown that in marine wildlife, cell cultures and animal models, microplastics can cause DNA damage and changes in gene activity – known risks for developing cancer.
