Arjama Roy
Small pieces of plastic fragments that are less than 5mm in length, commonly referred to as microplastics. Microplastics can move from the environment into human bodies via particular seafood, sea salt, and water. Ingestion of microplastics can expose chemicals that are known to be harmful.
The study published within the Environment International journal; researchers have detected several microplastics fragments in the human placenta by Raman Microspectroscopy. This is the first study that reveals the presence of pigmented microplastics and of man-made particles in the human placenta.
This was a pilot observational descriptive study which was conducted, where six patients selected and their placentas were collected from vaginal birth. From each placenta, three portions were collected from the maternal side, the foetal side, and the chorio-amniotic membranes. All portions were providentially processed for the analysis by Raman Microspectroscopy.
12 microplastics fragments were isolated in four human placentas- 5 on the foetal side, 4 on the maternal side and 3 in the chorio-amniotic membranes. The size of the microplastics were ~10 μm in size. Scientists are yet to know the health effect of microplastics on the body. It is likely believed that particles have been consumed or breathed by the mothers.
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Source: Antonio Ragusa, Alessandro Svelato, Criselda Santacroce, Piera Catalano, Valentina Notarstefano, Oliana Carnevali, Fabrizio Papa, Mauro Ciro Antonio Rongioletti, Federico Baiocco, Simonetta Draghi, Elisabetta D’Amore, Denise Rinaldo, Maria Matta, Elisabetta Giorgini, Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta,Volume 146,2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106274
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