Dutch researchers have found traces of plastic particles in human blood for the first time. The research project, called Immunoplast and published in scientific journal Environmental International on 24 March 2022, was carried out by a team at Vrije University (Amsterdam; www.vu.nl/en) that discovered microplastics in 17 out of the 22 volunteers.

The most commonly detected plastic was PET, followed by polystyrene, polyethylene, and PMMA. Levels were low, at an average of 1.6 micrograms in every millilitre of blood – equivalent to one teaspoon of plastic per 1,000 litres. Polypropylene was also found and analysed, but the concentrations were too low for an accurate measurement.

According to the researchers, the plastic particles are likely to have been inhaled or ingested before being absorbed into the bloodstream. “The plastic particle concentrations reported here are the sum of all potential exposure routes: sources in the living environment entering air, water and food, but also personal care products that might be ingested (PE in toothpaste, PET in lip gloss), dental polymers, fragments of polymeric implants, polymeric drug delivery nanoparticles (PMMA, PS) and tattoo ink residues (ABS),” they concluded.

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Marja Lamoree, an analytical chemist at Vrije University and one of the research team leaders, commented, “This dataset is the first of its kind and must be expanded to gain insight into how widespread plastic pollution is in the bodies of humans, and how harmful that may be. With this insight we can determine whether exposure to plastic particles poses a threat to public health.”

The research was funded by the Dutch National Organisation for Health Research and Development (The Hague; www.zonmw.nl) and NGO Common Seas (Totnes, UK; www.commonseas.com).