It’s happening every day. From our water, our food and even the air we breathe, tiny plastic particles are finding their way into many parts of our body.

But what happens once those particles are inside? What do they do to our digestive system?

In a recent paper published in the journal  Environmental Health Perspectives, University of New Mexico researchers found that those tiny particles – microplastics – are having a significant impact on our digestive pathways, making their way from the gut and into the tissues of the kidney, liver and brain.

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Friendly reminder that most microplastic is dust from car tires.

    This is just yet another of the myriad ways car-dependent zoning is killing us.

  • mildbeard
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    8 months ago

    So the mice in this study were fed plastic. It wound up all throughout their bodies, not just in the gut. It affected multiple organs in multiple ways.

    A mouse only lives 2-3 years. Human beings eat micro plastics every day in our food supply. The plastic should be able to accumulate in our bodies for a much longer time.