Microplastics used in food packaging can damage the intestines and increase the risk of colon cancer and depression. This results from the research of Austrian scientists. A team of experts examined the stool of healthy volunteers and found that microscopic plastic particles can alter the activity of intestinal microorganisms. Some of these changes, the researchers say, match patterns that have previously been linked to depression and colon cancer.
Experts called the results significant and emphasized that this is the first human study to demonstrate that microplastics can affect the gut microbiome. But they also warned that more research is needed to determine exactly how microplastics cause damage.
“These findings are significant given how widely we are exposed to microplastics in our daily lives. Microplastics have been found in fish, salt, bottled and tap water, so most people are exposed to them on a daily basis through food, inhalation or skin contact,” said the author of the research, Professor Christian Pacher-Deutsch from the University of Graz.
“The key finding is that microplastics have an impact on our microbiome. Although it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about health implications, the microbiome plays a vital role in human health—from digestion to mental well-being. Limiting exposure to microplastics wherever possible is therefore a sensible and important measure,” he concluded.
