Microplastic particles have been found in supermarket foods and farm animals in the Netherlands, yet the impact on human health remains unclear.
According to The Guardian, this marks the first global report of microplastic contamination in beef, pork, and the blood of cattle and pigs on farms.
Scientists at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) in the Netherlands discovered microplastic particles in 75% of the meat and dairy products tested. Notably, 100% of the blood samples examined contained microplastics.
Microplastics were also found in all tested animal feed samples. This indicates that microplastics are infiltrating animals through a significant potential pollution pathway. Packaged food products made of plastic are the leading hypothesis for this finding.
The team of experts at the University of Amsterdam was also the first to discover microplastics in human blood back in March. They employed similar methods to test animal products. The discovery of microplastics in blood suggests that these particles can circulate throughout the body and settle in various organs.
Currently, the effects of these microplastic particles on human or farm animal health cannot be determined. However, the authors express concern that microplastics cause significant cellular damage in laboratory settings, and from the air, they infiltrate the body, leading to millions of premature deaths each year. Some wildlife is also affected by microplastics.
A large volume of plastic waste released into the environment and microplastics has contaminated the entire planet, from the peak of Mount Everest to the deep oceans. Humans consume these tiny particles through food and drinking water as well as through inhalation.
Dr. Heather Leslie from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the lead author of the study, stated: “When you test blood, you are evaluating the dose absorbed from all different exposure routes: air, water, food… So, it immediately tells you what has entered the body and how.”
Dr. Leslie’s research, along with colleagues, aimed to assess whether microplastics were present in farm animals, meat, and milk. The scientists analyzed 12 blood samples from cattle and 12 from pigs, finding microplastics in all, including polyethylene and polystyrene. Additionally, 25 milk samples from supermarket cartons, farm containers, and hand-milking areas were analyzed, with 18 out of 25 samples containing at least one type of microplastic.
Notably, 7 out of 8 beef samples and 5 out of 8 pork samples were contaminated. Farm animals and meat have yet to be tested in other countries, but microplastics have been reported in milk purchased in Switzerland in 2021 and in milk from farms in France.
Maria Westerbos from the Plastic Soup Foundation remarked: “Microplastics are present in animal feed, and it is no surprise that the majority of meat and dairy products tested contain microplastics. We urgently need to eliminate plastics in animal feed to protect the health of livestock and humans.”
In the book “Why Aren’t We Changing the Climate?”, Daisy Kendrick, founder of the nonprofit Ocean Generation, predicts: “If current trends continue, by 2050 there will be up to 12 billion tons of plastic in landfills. This amount weighs more than the Empire State Building 35,000 times.”
Not only in blood, but microplastics have also been discovered in samples of living human lung tissue. Most recently, they were found in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica.
|
Currently, we can rely on two methods to verify whether a product contains microplastics.
|
