A study has found microplastic and nanoplastic pollution to be significantly higher in placentas from premature births than in those from full-term births.
Microplastics, broken down from plastic waste, have polluted the entire planet from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People are already known to consume the tiny particles via food, water and by breathing them in.
Microplastics were first detected in placentas in 2020 and have also been found in semen, breast milk, brains, livers and bone marrow, indicating profuse contamination of people’s bodies. The impact on human health is little known, but microplastics have been linked to strokes and heart attacks.
Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death worldwide, and the reasons for about two-thirds of all preterm births were unknown, said Dr Enrico Barrozo, of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US. The established link between air pollution and millions of premature births had spurred the research team to investigate plastic pollution.
Analysis with highly sensitive mass spectrometry found 203 micrograms of plastic per gram of tissue (µg/g) in the premature placentas – more than 50% higher than the 130µg/g in the full-term placentas.
Twelve types of plastic were detected, with the most significant differences between the full and preterm birth placentas being for PET, as used in plastic bottles, PVC, polyurethane and polycarbonate.
Some mothers are at higher risk of preterm births, due to their age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. But a strong link between the plastic particles and premature birth remained even when these factors were taken into account.