In a new study published on September 22 in Environmental Sciences and Technology Letters, scientists report that infants ingest ten times more microplastics than adults.
Infants more exposed to microplastics than adults
To find this out, the researchers studied the feces of three newborns, six one-year-old infants and ten adults. They focused on the presence of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate and excluded polypropylene (a plastic used in diapers) in order to focus only on what is ingested.
According to the results, PET concentrations are ten times higher in babies (36,000 nanograms of PET per gram of fecal matter) than in adults. In contrast, the levels of polycarbonate are equivalent in children and adults. The same goes for newborns for which small amounts (similar to adults) were found in meconium (the first stools of newborns). An alarming finding since it could mean the presence of plastic in the body from birth.
Plastic present everywhere in everyday life
How can we explain this high exposure to plastic in infants? Because plastic is found everywhere on a daily basis although it is invisible to the naked eye. Used for making bottles, clothes, toys, bottles, diapers and other everyday items … It is no wonder that plastic is ingested in large quantities by newborns and infants. The study even reveals that a typical household would house 10,000 plastic microfibers per square meter. In addition, by breathing the ambient air, we inhale more and more plastic.
Health consequences still poorly explained
Although the effects of microplastics on health remain little studied, we still know that when they degrade, the particles of plastics release their toxins in the body without ever really being evacuated. Kurunthachalam Kannan, one of the co-authors of the study, explains: “ the effects of microplastics on health remain rather uncertain. Plastics were long considered inert and, after ingestion, they pass directly into the gastrointestinal tract before being excreted in the stool, say the authors of the new study. However, recent research suggests that microparticles smaller than 10 microns can cross cell membranes and reach the circulatory system. “.
