Throw away garbage will return to your stomach and affect nutrient absorption

 Get up in the morning, clean your teeth with a plastic toothbrush, go out, buy a bun in a plastic bag, go to the unit, and pick up a glass of water in a plastic bucket. This is a daily life for many people. Our lives have been surrounded by plastic, but what impact will it have on us?

　　 For a long time, this direction has been lack of research. But recently, a new study found that when microplastics in the environment enter the human body, they hinder our digestive health and nutrient absorption.

　　 Scientists from Ocean University of China and the University of Massachusetts found that plastic particles can inhibit the body’s absorption of fat molecules by simulating the human gastrointestinal tract in vitro. And this effect may also be widespread for the intake of other nutrients.

　　The research was published in the recent "Environmental Science and Technology" journal.

　　Microplastics everywhere

　　 Plastics are widely used in various fields due to their strong plasticity, low cost and high stability. The mass production of plastic products makes microplastics gradually become a new type of pollutant.

　　Microplastics(replica hermes) generally refer to small-particle plastics with a particle size of less than 5 mm. The concept was first proposed in 2004. It is estimated that these particles mainly come from polymer fibers and debris.

　　In the daily cleaning of chemical fiber clothes, more than 1,900 plastic fibers can be produced each time. Large pieces of plastic discarded in the natural environment will also be shattered and degraded under the action of ultraviolet radiation and physical wear, and become fragments. These fibers and fragments are further broken down and become smaller particles widely present in different environmental media.

　　In the terrestrial ecosystem, agricultural plastic films, sewage sludge, and urban wastewater irrigation are the main sources of microplastics. Landfill and land fertilization will also increase the content of microplastics in the soil. These microplastics can be absorbed in large quantities by plant roots, and migrate to the stems and leaves for food and enter the food chain.

　　Untreated plastic will go to the sea, where it creates "PM2.5 in the ocean". They are ubiquitous in the marine environment, and they are widely distributed in the circulation, deep sea, seabed, coastline, and even the Antarctic waters. Various marine animals, from humpback whales, one of the largest filter feeders, to lower plankton, have been found to contain microplastics. Therefore, not only land animals and plants, but also deep-sea seafood is also risky.

　　 In addition to water and land, the air was also captured. Studies have shown that microplastics with a particle size of less than 100 microns can be suspended in the atmosphere and easily inhaled by animals. Among them, fibers with a length of 15-20 microns cannot be effectively removed from the lungs, and fibers with a length of 0.3-10.0 microns are carcinogenic. In the next few decades, microplastics may become an increasingly important part of inhalable particulate matter (PM), affecting human health in the form of air pollution.