French scientists have now found the exact amount of these particles that we inhale daily in our houses and cars. A team of scientists from the University of Toulouse collected air samples from their own houses and cars in real driving conditions. Their analysis shows that an adult inhales approximately 68,000 micro -hunts of plastics with a size of ten microns or less, which is a hundred times more than expected previous estimates.
“Everywhere we look, we find microplastics, even in the air we breathe in our homes and cars. The greatest concerns are how small these particles are, completely invisible to the naked eye. Every day we inhale them thousands without realizing it, ”said the authors from Toulouse.
Scientists warn that these small particles are small enough to They have penetrated deep into the lungs, where they can release toxic impurities, get into the bloodstream and cause various diseases. In previous research, the authors focused on particles ranging from twenty to two hundred micrometers. In a contemporary study, scientists have decided to examine smaller particles of one to ten micrometers, more likely to penetrate the lung tissue.
“We have found that more than 90 percent of microplastic particles in the indoor air in both homes and cars have a size of less than 10 micrometers and can breathe deep into the lungs. This study is also the first to measure microplastics directly in the environment of automotive cabins. Overall, we observed microplast concentrations in the indoor air up to 100 times higher than previous estimates of what It confirms that the indoor air is the main and so far underestimated path of exposure to the subtle particles of microplastics, ” added to the authors.
