미세플라스틱, 빠른 시간에 체내 모든 기관에 퍼져
Microplastic debris in the world's oceans not only impacts marine life, but also threatens human health.
Local researchers have discovered that microplastics can spread not only through the digestive system, but throughout the entire body in a short period of time.
Lee Eunjin reports.
Every year, over 10 million tons of microplastics circulate through the world's ocean currents, harming marine life.
And as this microplastic debris moves along the food chain,... it can eventually threaten humans.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the average person consumes around 5 grams of microplastics each week through their food.
That's roughly the amount of plastic in a credit card.
South Korean researchers have announced the discovery of how microplastics quickly spread throughout the body.
Radioisotopes were attached to microplastics... which showed that an hour after ingestion, the particles had spread along the bloodstream throughout the entire body, from the stomach to the lungs, reproductive organs and the brain.
The largest amounts were found in the digestive organs - the stomach and intestines - where most of the particles passed through in the space of 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in the liver, the organ responsible for filtering and detoxifying the body,... the amount of microplastics accumulated over time. The amount identified in the first hour had increased by five times in 48 hours.
"Using radioactive isotopes and PET technology allows tracking without killing mice. This is an advantage as we can conduct an observation of how the injected microplastics are absorbed and how they spread through the body."
Researchers said that while there is a difference in body size between humans and mice, there could be a difference in the speed of the particles spreading,... but it still proves that microplastics spread to organs outside of the digestive system.
Next for these researchers is to find out the impact that microplastics have on the different organs of the body. Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.
#Microplastics #human_health #WorldWideFundforNature
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2021-12-14, 10:00 (KST)
