09/03/2025
Dr. Zarbalian:
"Microplastics have grave impacts on human health and our immune systems that have important implications for preventative medicine. While still an early area of research, so far signs point to negative downstream impacts in terms of exacerbating disease and likely even causing disease via disruption of the gut microbiome. The Guardian's shining a light on the research work coming out of University of Toulouse is important as we grapple with the fact that our exposure to microplastics is even higher than previously estimated. "
The Guardian:
"Every breath people take in their homes or car probably contains significant amounts of microplastics small enough to burrow deep into lungs, new peer-reviewed research finds, bringing into focus a little understood route of exposure and health threat.
The study, published in the journal Plos One, estimates humans can inhale as much as 68,000 tiny plastic particles daily. Previous studies have identified larger pieces of airborne microplastics, but those are not as much of a health threat because they do not hang in the air as long, or move as deep into the pulmonary system."
Lihua, Chang, and Tang Zhiyin. "Microplastics aggravates rheumatoid arthritis by affecting the proliferation/migration/inflammation of fibroblast-like synovial cells by regulating mitochondrial homeostasis." International Immunopharmacology 120 (2023): 110268.
Urrutia-Pereira, Marilyn, et al. "Microplastics exposure and immunologic response." Allergologia et immunopathologia 51.5 (2023): 57-65.
