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2024 Election Coverage

Microplastics found in human blood

Researchers in the Netherlands have detected microplastics in human blood for the first time. Photo: Melissa Gerr
Researchers in the Netherlands have detected microplastics in human blood for the first time. Photo: Melissa Gerr

We know all too well that plastics are clogging our landfills, swirling in our oceans and now, research shows, microplastics have been detected in the blood of humans.

Dr. Lynn Grattan, a practicing neuropsychologist with the University of Maryland Medical Center and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, explains how plastics can enter the human body, and what can happen once they get there:

“These particles are bio available for uptake in the human bloodstream. That means when you eat or inhale the plastics, they can enter the human bloodstream and then circulate to all other parts of the body.” 

Plus, how to minimize your exposure to plastics. Hint: it’s time to stop drinking out of flimsy one-use water bottles!

Links: Environment International Research Report, Guardian article, Dr. Lynn Grattan at UMMC.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'