Doctors have warned of potentially life-threatening consequences of plastic pollution after finding a significantly increased risk of stroke, heart attack and earlier death in people whose blood vessels are contaminated with microscopic plastic.
Researchers in Naples examined fatty plaques removed from the blood vessels of patients with arterial disease and found that more than half had deposits contaminated with small particles of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Those whose plaques contained microplastics or nanoplastics were almost five times more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or death from any cause over the next 34 months, compared to those whose plaques were free of plastic contamination.
The findings do not prove that plastic particles cause strokes and heart attacks – people more exposed to the pollution may be at greater risk for other reasons – but research on animals and human cells suggests that the particles may be to blame.
“Our data will dramatically affect cardiovascular health if confirmed, because we are defenseless against plastic pollution,” said Dr. Raffaele Marfella, first author of the study at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples. “The only defense available to us today is prevention by reducing plastic production.”
Because plastic pollution is ubiquitous, span the entire planetMarfella said that even if society succeeded in the massive task of reducing plastic pollution, any health benefits from the cleanup would not be seen for years.
The doctors began the research after noticing an increase in strokes and heart attacks in patients who would normally be considered low risk. Marfella and his colleagues wondered whether plastic pollution might be involved in damaging people’s blood vessels by driving inflammation.
Write in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors describe how they analyzed fatty plaques removed from 304 patients with atherosclerosis affecting the carotid arteries. The carotid arteries are the main blood vessels that supply blood to the neck, face and brain. The disease causes a build-up of plaque in the arteries, which significantly increases the risk of stroke. The plaques can be removed through a procedure called carotid endarterectomy.
Laboratory tests on the extracted plaques revealed polyethylene in 150 patients and polyvinyl chloride in 31, along with signs of inflammation. When examined under an electron microscope, the researchers noticed jagged foreign particles in the fatty deposits, most less than a thousandth of a millimeter in diameter.
The doctors followed 257 of the patients for an average of 34 months after they removed carotid plaques. Those who had plastic particles in their plaques were 4.5 times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack, or to die from any cause than those whose plaques were free of plastic pollution.
Marfella said the discovery of plastic in the plaques was “surprising” and that the likely effect on cardiovascular health was “worrying”. The findings may explain what doctors call “residual cardiovascular risk,” he said, where 20%-30% of patients treated for common risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, still have heart attacks and strokes. .
Further work is needed to confirm whether plastic pollution plays a role in strokes and heart attacks, but Marfella called for greater awareness of the potential threat.
“People need to become aware of the risks we take with our lifestyle,” he said. “I hope that the alarm message of our study will raise the consciousness of citizens, especially governments, to finally become aware of the importance of the health of our planet. To put it into a slogan that can unite the need for health for people and the planet, plastic-free is healthy for the heart and the earth.”
Holly Shiels, professor of integrative physiology at the University of Manchester, said the impact of micro and nanoplastics on plaque formation and coronary heart disease needed greater attention. “It is conceivable that microplastics and nanoplastics, and the toxins they carry, could trigger events that could lead to the development of atherosclerosis,” she said.
