Microplastics Found In Liver, Kidney, Heart, Brain Of Newborns: New Research (image-X/NADS_under)

Recent research conducted by Rutgers University has revealed that traces of microplastics can be passed from pregnant mothers to their unborn offspring. The tiny plastic pieces were found to be present in the lungs, hearts, livers, kidneys, and brains of newborn mice.

Published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the Rutgers Health study sought to investigate if the micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) could deposit in foetal tissues.

Also Read | Could The Secret To Managing Diabetes Be Hidden In Plain Sight?

The Rutgers Health researchers also found that these harmful plastics remained in tissue after birth, at least in rats.

The research indicated that during pregnancy, the microplastics can transfer through the placental barrier and reach the developing foetus. The researchers exposed six rats to aerosolised food-grade plastic powder for ten days during pregnancy to assess the persistence of MNPs in neonatal tissue after maternal exposure.

Both rodents and humans possess a hemochorial placenta, wherein maternal and foetal blood don’t come into direct contact during circulation.

Two weeks after the birth of two newborn rats—a male and a female—they were tested for MNPs. In both, the exact same type of plastic inhaled by the mother during pregnancy was found in the offspring’s brain, heart, lung, kidney, and liver tissue.

Also Read | Hunter’s Moon: When And Where To Watch The Biggest Supermoon Of The Year

Phoebe A. Stapleton, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and the study’s senior author, highlighted the findings of the study as further evidence why MNPs are extremely dangerous in the environment. The presence of microplastics in the life-saving organs is a cause for alarm.