Scientists from Leiden University have found that plastic nanoparticles can cause serious defects in the development of the heart and nervous system of embryos. Research published Environment International.
The researchers used high concentrations of polystyrene nanoparticles that are not normally found in the body. For example, when synthetic clothing is damaged by ultraviolet light or wind, nano and microparticles of plastic can form.
Using fluorescent microscopes, the scientists observed how injected nanometer-sized samples of glowing plastic particles crossed the intestinal wall of the chick embryo and circulated through its organs.
The 25-nanometer polystyrene nanoparticles actually stuck to stem cells, preventing them from migrating to parts of the heart, arteries, facial structures, and nervous system where they normally form important tissues and organs.
As a result, it was observed that developmental disorders in the eyes, deformities in the facial part of the skull, thinning of the heart muscle and slowing of the heart rate were observed in a quarter of the chicken embryos. Neural tube defects have also been noted. In this case, the higher the concentration of particles, the more pronounced the defects were.
About 360 million tons of plastic were produced in 2018, and this number is expected to double by 2025. Previous research has shown that microplastics reside deep in human lungs, circulate in our bloodstream and cross into the placenta, a vital organ that protects unborn babies from pathogens in the mother’s blood.