You've likely seen, or been asked about, the study that made headlines about microplastics being found in human blood and tissues. It has, as expected, drawn a lot of attention.
The study from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands found microplastics in the blood in 80 percent of people tested. Researchers said they tested 22 people and found PET particles in 50 percent of people tested and polystyrene in a little more than one in three. Obviously, a study with 22 people is very small, but it's also obvious that microplastics shouldn't be there.
This is all a very complex issue, one that is impossible to sum up in one blog, especially one not written by a scientist. Assistant Managing Editor Steve Toloken has been doing his best to follow what's happening, though, and notes that the study is adding fuel to demands that the United Nations look seriously at microplastics.
Vera Slaveykova, president of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Switzerland's University of Geneva, told a U.N. webinar that the study does not prove harm but does have worrisome implications.
"This does not mean that it could have some effect, but it's a clear suggestion that the microplastics can pass the biological barriers and can travel around the body," she said.
You can read more about the U.N. discussion on microplastics here and catch more about Steve's thoughts on the topic and other public policy issues by watching the replay of PN's Plastics in Politics livestream discussion that took place April 12.