Post by account_disabled on Feb 26, 2024 22:32:34 GMT -5
As much as the idea is unpleasant, it is also now likely that most of our diets include microplastics. Contamination from these small plastic particles has been reported for the first time to be present in the meat, milk and blood of farm animals, according to The Guardian .
As their name implies, microplastics are particles less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter, smaller in diameter than the standard bead used in jewelry.
The problem with microplastics is that—like items of any size made from this material—they do not easily break down into harmless molecules; They take hundreds or thousands of years to decompose and, in the meantime, they wreak havoc on the environment and human health.
Microplastics in meat and farm animal feed
Microplastics have been detected in marine organisms, from plankton to whales, even in drinking water, in human blood and now also in the meat we consume. Research by scientists at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) in the Netherlands found plastic particles in three-quarters of the meat and dairy products analyzed in the pilot study.
But microplastics were also found in analyzed animal feed samples. Which indicates, according to the study, a potentially important contamination route. In addition to considering that if food products are packaged in plastics, that is another possible route of microplastics in meat.
Microplastics in meat
Plastic particles travel through the body and can lodge in organs
When in March this year, VUA scientists reported microplastics in human blood for the first time, they discovered the plastic particles in the blood sample can travel through the body and lodge in organs.
In this sense, to determine the existence Chinese American Phone Number List of microplastics in meat and milk of farm animals, the same ones from the first study were used. Although researchers are still analyzing the impact of these microparticles on human health and farm animals, they are concerned because it is not known how long they remain in the human body before being excreted.
In a first advance in the study of damage, microplastics could cause damage to human cells , including cell death and allergic reactions, at levels relevant to human exposure.
Microplastics in meat
However, it should be noted that its real impact is still uncertain. Which suggests new future research that allows the damage to be identified, but also actions to stop an apparently "micro" problem.
Microplastics, a macro problem
One of the great dangers of microplastics is that they usually go unnoticed, traveling like dust, through air, food and water. They cannot be collected or recycled. It is also impossible to identify how microplastics affect humans because there are a wide variety of plastics made from many different substances.
The results derived from the pilot study to evaluate whether microplastics exist in meat and milk from farmed animals could prompt further exploration of exposure and the risks associated with it.
garbage plastics
When carrying out the research, the scientists analyzed 12 samples of cow blood and 12 of pig blood and found microplastics in all of them, including polyethylene and polystyrene. Subsequently, of 25 milk samples – including milk from supermarket checkouts, milk tanks on farms and hand milking – 18 of them – including at least one of each type – contained microplastics.
"It is still unknown whether there are potential toxicological risks from these findings"
VUA report.
Finally, Maria Westerbos of the Plastic Soup Foundation , who commissioned the research, said: “With microplastics present in livestock feed, it is not surprising that a clear majority of the meat and dairy products tested contained microplastics. "We urgently need to rid the world of plastic in animal feed to protect the health of livestock and humans.
As their name implies, microplastics are particles less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter, smaller in diameter than the standard bead used in jewelry.
The problem with microplastics is that—like items of any size made from this material—they do not easily break down into harmless molecules; They take hundreds or thousands of years to decompose and, in the meantime, they wreak havoc on the environment and human health.
Microplastics in meat and farm animal feed
Microplastics have been detected in marine organisms, from plankton to whales, even in drinking water, in human blood and now also in the meat we consume. Research by scientists at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) in the Netherlands found plastic particles in three-quarters of the meat and dairy products analyzed in the pilot study.
But microplastics were also found in analyzed animal feed samples. Which indicates, according to the study, a potentially important contamination route. In addition to considering that if food products are packaged in plastics, that is another possible route of microplastics in meat.
Microplastics in meat
Plastic particles travel through the body and can lodge in organs
When in March this year, VUA scientists reported microplastics in human blood for the first time, they discovered the plastic particles in the blood sample can travel through the body and lodge in organs.
In this sense, to determine the existence Chinese American Phone Number List of microplastics in meat and milk of farm animals, the same ones from the first study were used. Although researchers are still analyzing the impact of these microparticles on human health and farm animals, they are concerned because it is not known how long they remain in the human body before being excreted.
In a first advance in the study of damage, microplastics could cause damage to human cells , including cell death and allergic reactions, at levels relevant to human exposure.
Microplastics in meat
However, it should be noted that its real impact is still uncertain. Which suggests new future research that allows the damage to be identified, but also actions to stop an apparently "micro" problem.
Microplastics, a macro problem
One of the great dangers of microplastics is that they usually go unnoticed, traveling like dust, through air, food and water. They cannot be collected or recycled. It is also impossible to identify how microplastics affect humans because there are a wide variety of plastics made from many different substances.
The results derived from the pilot study to evaluate whether microplastics exist in meat and milk from farmed animals could prompt further exploration of exposure and the risks associated with it.
garbage plastics
When carrying out the research, the scientists analyzed 12 samples of cow blood and 12 of pig blood and found microplastics in all of them, including polyethylene and polystyrene. Subsequently, of 25 milk samples – including milk from supermarket checkouts, milk tanks on farms and hand milking – 18 of them – including at least one of each type – contained microplastics.
"It is still unknown whether there are potential toxicological risks from these findings"
VUA report.
Finally, Maria Westerbos of the Plastic Soup Foundation , who commissioned the research, said: “With microplastics present in livestock feed, it is not surprising that a clear majority of the meat and dairy products tested contained microplastics. "We urgently need to rid the world of plastic in animal feed to protect the health of livestock and humans.