I have to, once again, thank my brilliant colleagues at our School of Medicine for generating wonderful, thought-provoking ideas for consideration in this blog! This time, I thank my excellent colleague Dr. David Kersey, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences for bringing to my attention a very important article that was just published in the journal Nature. The article highlights a newly discovered mechanism that likely explains some of the toxicity associated with microplastics.
What the researchers discovered was that plastics, previously assumed to be inert, when exposed to water, exhibit intrinsic physicochemical activity that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS)! For those unfamiliar with reactive oxygen species, these harmful byproducts of cellular processes within our body are thought to contribute to cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzeimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, lung diseases, and cancer! Reactive oxygen species actually happen frequently within our cells, but we typically have “antioxidant” mechanisms that can quickly convert the ROS into harmless molecules like water.
But if the antioxidant systems are overwhelmed by ROS, including those created by microplastics, this can lead to protein oxidation, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This paper provides a great start to understanding why having micro and nano-plastics in our bodies, and in our cells, will likely contribute to cellular damage through these mechanisms.
Yet more evidence that we need to minimize our exposures to plastic products, particularly those we are consuming (plastic bottles, containers, food storage, etc.) to avoid cellular damage, and maximize wellness and health in our bodies.
