According to researchers, inhaled microplastics can pose serious health risks since they remain in the human airways.
- Researchers have studied how inhaled microplastics pollute the airways.
- The anatomy of the human respiratory tract causes these microplastics to accumulate and settle in areas at the back of the throat rather than being evacuated.
- We inhale about 16.2 pieces of microplastics per hour, which is equivalent to a credit card over an entire week.
Microplastics tend to accumulate in hot spots in the nasal cavity and the oropharynx, i.e. the back of the throat: these are the conclusions of a team of researchers who studied the movement microplastics, tiny debris present in the environment and resulting from the degradation of plastic products, when we breathe.
Their study was published in Physics of Fluids.
Microplastics: we inhale an impressive amount without knowing it
And it’s really not reassuring when you know the danger that microplastics represent and how much you inhale without realizing it. According to recent studieswe inhale about 16.2 pieces of microplastics per hour, which is equivalent to a credit card over an entire week.
Additionally, these microplastics typically contain pollutants and toxic chemicals. Inhaled microplastics can therefore pose serious health risks and understanding how they move through the respiratory system is essential for the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases, say the study authors.
Microplastics settle in the airways
To carry out their work, the researchers developed a computational fluid dynamics model to analyze the transport and deposition of microplastics in the upper respiratory tract. They noticed that the anatomy of the airways made it difficult for microplastics to be expelled from the body:
“The complicated and highly asymmetrical anatomical shape of the airways and the complex flow behavior in the nasal cavity and oropharynx cause microplastics to deviate from the flow path and deposit in these areas“said study author Mohammad S. Islam.”Flow velocity, particle inertia, and asymmetric anatomy influence overall deposition and increase deposition concentration in nasal cavities and oropharynx“.
Exposure to microplastics is a danger to the respiratory tract
In addition, respiratory conditions and piece size influenced the overall deposition rate of microplastics in the airways.
Higher flow leads to fewer deposits, and the larger microplastics (5.56 microns) deposit more often in the airways than their smaller counterparts, the authors note.
The scientists believe that their study highlights the real problem of exposure to and inhalation of microplastics, especially in regions with high levels of plastic pollution or industrial activity.
