Rutgers researchers are exploring the impact of microplastics on the digestive system

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Rutgers University has received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the health impacts associated with exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics.

When plastics, such as water bottles, degrade into tiny particles, they pollute the air, food and water.

Microplastics and nanoplastics, often invisible to the eye, are easily ingested. Once ingested, they can invade people’s organs.

“We’ve been dumping, in the environment, plastics for quite some time, for 50, 60 years. And, these non-biodegradable plastics keep breaking apart due to weathering, mechanical abrasion, thermal stress, and the like, into smaller fragments,” said Philip Demokritou, the Henry Rutgers Chair and Professor of Nanoscience and Environmental Bioengineering at Rutgers Health. “And, pretty much, we polluted every environmental media — the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink.”

Rutgers’ five-year study will evaluate how exposure to these particles impacts the human digestive system, such as the intestine and other organs, especially for people with inflammatory bowel diseases. Researchers will also study the cellular process after exposure, and how plastic type and chemistry plays a role in their uptake and toxicity.

“We know that these microplastics can penetrate biological barriers that our body has in place to protect us. And the big question, and the multimillion dollar question, of course, is what are the health implications of this exposure?” said Demokritou, the study’s lead investigator.

Recent studies have found microplastics and nanoplastics in the human bloodstream, brain tissue and other organs, and researchers say exposure could increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. 

A study published earlier this year, found plastic water bottles contain 10 to 100 times more microplastics than previously thought.

Demokritou calls for increased plastic recycling, reduced plastic use and for industries to replace single-use plastics — which end up in landfills and incinerators — with biodegradable and non-toxic alternatives.

“We keep dumping billions of metric tons of plastics in the environment for 50, 60 years. We created this mess, and now the mess is coming back to create issues,” he said.

“I don’t really think we can control plastic pollution if we don’t reduce the use. The other challenge is we already have 6 or 7 billion metric tons of plastics out there,” he continued. “How do we clean that? We can fix the plastics crisis the same way we did with air and water pollution … but that will require research, money and time.”