microplastic from human activities can reach the most remote water systems. They have even been found in Antarctica. There they can cause obvious harm to wildlife. But also to themselves, as they return through food such as fish, shellfish or even salt. Microplastics have already been found in the digestive system, blood, lungs and including breast milk of people. And if that wasn’t alarming enough, a new study just published in Scientific reports it is said that, in addition, they can carry pathogenic microorganisms attached to them as stowaways.
This, again, has consequences for the fauna as well as for the people who ingest them. Terrestrial pathogens have previously been found at high concentrations in aquatic ecosystems. For example, toxoplasma gondiisimple, challenging toxoplasmosiscomes from cat feces. However, it is believed that it is he who is behind the death of otters, dolphins and monk seals.
And the worst thing is that microplastics are a convenient means of transporting these microorganisms to travel long distances. If the particles can be found in Antarctica, then so can the pathogens that travel on them. This is a drama for the fauna; But, as the authors of the study explain in their statement, sometimes people get hurt more than what can affect us. Well, here’s an example.
What is microplastic?
Microplastics are small pieces of this material with a diameter less than 5 millimeters.
They may originate primary or secondary. That is, they can be made directly as microplastics or obtained from the decomposition of larger pieces of plastic. The first group includes microgranules which are used in cosmetics, for example, for the manufacture of scrubs. In the second we find any small fragment resulting from broken sheets or larger structures. Also common microfiber that come off the clothes.
Microplastics are very small pieces less than 5 mm in diameter.
The latter do not reach the sea just because we throw off our clothes. They also separate in a washing machine or dryer and they go straight to the drains, so it is advisable to use filters in this type of appliance.
All microplastics, both primary and secondary origin, arise as a result of human activity. And the people and animals that we tame live with a variety of microorganisms, pathogenic or harmless. Therefore, often they stick to the particles that we throw out, and from there they go to the most remote places. But to what extent?
Pathogenic microorganisms have become free riders
A group of scientists from UC Davis I had a hunch that microplastics could be a way for some micro-organisms to enter the marine ecosystems.
Therefore, they decided to analyze the possibility of sticking to these particles of three pathogenic protozoa: Toxoplasma Gondii, Giardia D Cryptosporidium (crypto). These three were chosen precisely because they are terrestrial microbes found in abundance in rivers and oceans. And also because they can harm both the aquatic fauna and the person himself.
Pathogens bind particularly well to microfibers, as well as microbeads from cosmetics.
With regard to the analyzed microplastics, they focused primarily on polyethylene microballoons typical for cosmetics and polyester microfibers originating from tissues. They noticed that the three pathogens studied can bind to them and remain after they are released into the aquatic environment. They did this most effectively on microfibers, but also on microbeads.
Depending on the composition of the microplastic, they can float or sink to the bottom. But in both cases they are worried. If they float, they can fly much farther, carrying pathogens to the most unusual places. And the latter can remain on the seabed, where many types of filter-feeding animals live, which accumulate large amounts of microplastics in the digestive system and can then be consumed by humans in the form of shellfish.
A new reason to control the release of microplastics
The three pathogens studied can infect humans. toxoplasma gondii It is a feline protozoan that can also infect other animals, including their own. people. This is very curious, because he manipulates infected individuals to return them to their beloved owners: feline. For this reason, it has been observed mice be attracted to cat urine or chimpanzee approach without fear leopards.
As far as humans are concerned, it is true that we do not have predators. So many of ourselves. However, perhaps as a relic of the time when we could fall into the mouth of a jaguar, it has been proven that infected people can have more impulsive behavior. In fact, numerous cases of psychotic flare-ups have been reported in the scientific literature that could be associated with this infection.
The three protozoa studied are especially dangerous for immunocompromised people.
It’s true that it very specific cases and that it does not usually cause serious illness in humans. However, it may be disturbing pregnant women and immunocompromised peopleso it is completely impractical for this protozoan to come to us through microplastics.
As for the other two pathogenic protozoa studied, they cause gastrointestinal diseases and can be fatal to young children and immunocompromised people.
Therefore, the authors of the study believe that this is a good reason for people to control their plastic consumption. This is due to a very striking example of one of the authors of the study, Karen Shapiro:
“It’s easy for people to dismiss plastic issues as something they don’t care about: I’m not a turtle in the ocean, I won’t choke on it. But once you start talking about sickness and health, you have more room to make changes. Microplastics can indeed carry microbes, and these microbes end up in our water and our food.”
Karen Shapiro, infectious disease expert and study author
It’s sad but true, people tend to move on by selfishness. So now that we know that microplastics that come back to us may contain pathogens, we have a good reason to recycle plastic, use filters in a washing machine, or check if the detergents we use contain microplastics. There are chemical exfoliators that do not use granules, or physical options that use, for example, biodegradable grape seeds. We already have some alternatives, we just need to start thinking about using them.
Source: Hiper Textual
