Research, Technology

Scientists have discovered a new terrifying danger of microplastics

Microplastics, i.e. small particles of plasticup to 5 millimeters long, is found everywhere - in soil, water, in products and even inside our body. For a long time it was believed that it is harmless, but recent studies show that this is not the case. The results of a recent study conducted by Dutch scientists are generally shocking - they showed that microplastics interfere with the normal development of the embryo, as a result of which serious defects develop in the fetus. In particular, microplastics cause defects in the heart, eyes, facial contours and nervous system of the embryos.

Scientists find that microplastics affect the development of the embryo

How microplastics affect the development of the embryo

In their study, scientists from the LeidenUniversity wanted to find out how polystyrene nanoplastics affect the development of embryos. True, we are not talking about human embryos, but chicken ones, which are much easier to track the development of in an egg, and besides, experiments can be carried out on them. In this work, this was key, since the embryos were exposed to nanoplastics.

As it is not difficult to guess, nanoplasticsare particles of plastic that are even smaller than microplastics. Typically, nanoplastic occurs when larger particles of plastic are exposed to ultraviolet light and disintegrate. In addition, the source of nanoplastics is synthetic clothing, from which microfibers (fine plastic dust) are separated during use.

To monitor the development of embryos, scientistsused fluorescence microscopy. Thanks to her, scientists could observe how the luminous plastic nanoparticles introduced by them cross the intestinal wall and spread to various organs of chicken embryos.

Microplastic (green) adheres to neural crest cells (blue)

The study showed that polystyrenenanoplastics affect neural crest cells, that is, stem cells, from which organs and tissues subsequently arise. Neural crest cells in all vertebrates first form the spinal cord and then migrate to form other parts of the nervous system and some vital organs, including the arteries and heart. Nanoplastic, in fact, did not allow these cells to migrate to where they should form organs.

Scientists have found that microplastics lead toappearance of superbugs. Recently, they have become one of the most serious problems in medicine, as the number of deaths from them is increasing every year.

What are the consequences of exposure to microplastics on the embryo

According to scientists, nanoplastic is attached toneural crest cells, causing them to die. The fact is that stem cells are sticky, so small plastic sticks to them, disrupting the development of organs. As the study showed, a quarter of the chicken embryos had abnormally small eyes, there was a deformity of the face, there was a slowdown in the heart rate, and even the heart muscle was damaged. Scientists report this in the journal Environment International.

In addition, scientists have found defects in the nervoustube, that is, the rudiment of the embryonic structure, from which the brain and spinal cord subsequently develop. It is not yet clear why this happens, but the researchers suggest that all the same neural crest cells are to blame.

The authors note that in their studythey used nanoplastics in high concentration. Despite the fact that small particles of plastic surround us everywhere and even fall from the sky along with the rain, they are usually present in the body in lower concentrations.

Microplastic causes various malformations in chick embryos, primarily affecting the central nervous system and heart muscle.

Therefore, this study shows hownanoplastic affects the body in extreme situations in terms of its concentration. The study also reported that the higher the concentration of nanoparticles, the greater the effect on embryonic development. However, this does not mean that a lower content of nanoplastic cannot cause malformations of the embryo.

Is microplastic dangerous for humans?

Chicken embryos are, of course, different from embryosof people. This raises the question, are nanoplastic particles dangerous for humans? So far, scientists cannot answer this question. Theoretically, nanoplastics can have the same effect on human embryos. But more research is needed to draw definitive conclusions.

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As scientists themselves note, only nowhumanity begins to realize the depth of the problem. Back in 2019, WHO stated that microplastics are not dangerous to health. However, later it turned out that it is able to change the shape of the lungs, increase cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, etc. It is possible that microplastics cause other harm to the body, which is still unknown to scientists.