Nanoplastics linked to heart attack, stroke and early death, study finds – CNN

Microplastics with a diameter of 0.5 μm (small green spheres) penetrating the cytoplasm of MH-22a hepatocyte cells. (by Karimov Denis and Valova Iana, captured by ZEISS Axio Imager 2, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia).https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microplastics_that_have_penetrated_inside_cells.png

People with microplastics or nanoplastics in their carotid artery tissues were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from any cause over the next three years than people who had none, a new study found…“To date, our study is the first that associated the plastic contamination with human diseases,” said Raffaele Marfella, lead author of the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine…

Microplastics found in every human placenta tested in study – the Guardian

Florida Sea Grant agent Maia McGuire sampling for microplastics in a freshwater stream and microplastics, July 21st, 2017 (courtesy of Florida Sea Grant CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries…The scientists analysed 62 placental tissue samples and found the most common plastic detected was polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags and bottles. A second study revealed microplastics in all 17 human arteries tested and suggested the particles may be linked to clogging of the blood vessels…