Read the full story at STAT.
Micro and nanoplastics, tiny pieces of plastic scattered throughout the environment, have been increasingly found to be able to enter the body, raising questions about where they end up and how they affect people’s health. In a new study, researchers say they have for the first time detected these plastic pieces inside fatty plaques that accumulate in blood vessels and linked them to an increased rate of heart problems.
Researchers found that people who had these plastic pieces in their plaques experienced a 4.5-fold greater risk of major complications including heart attacks, strokes, or death compared to those with plastic-free plaques, according to the study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine…
The authors cautioned that the study doesn’t prove the plastic pieces definitively caused a greater risk of problems, but it does find an important link between microplastics and cardiovascular complications that should be probed in future studies, they said.
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