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Temporal Trends of Microplastic Concentrations in Human Blood: A Comparative Study Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
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Researchers measured microplastics in blood samples from 102 people in South Korea, comparing levels before (2017-2019) and during (2020-2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite increased plastic use during the pandemic, blood microplastic levels were actually lower during that period, with concentrations and detection rates declining over the five years studied.
Despite the substantial increase in plastic use and waste during the COVID-19 pandemic, blood microplastic (MP) concentrations in the sampled South Korean cohort were lower, rather than higher, during the pandemic period. To investigate this counterintuitive pattern, this study quantified MP concentrations in human blood and compared concentrations between the pre-pandemic (2017–2019) and pandemic (2020–2021) periods. A total of 102 human blood samples collected during the pre-pandemic and pandemic years were analyzed using pyrolysis-GC/MS. Quantifiable MPs (> LOQ) were detected in 52 of 102 donors (51.0%). Five polymers polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA),polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS)—were detected, with mean total MP concentrations of 2.94, 1.54, 1.33, 0.41, and 1.09 µg/mL from 2017 to 2021, respectively. Multivariate analysis controlling for donor age and sex confirmed the opposite of the expected increase: mean total MP concentrations were lower during the pandemic than during the pre-pandemic period (0.75 vs. 1.93 µg/mL; Wilcoxon rank-sum p = 0.009), and this decrease remained significant among detected samples after adjustment for donor age and sex (gamma component, p = 0.023). Both detection probability (p = 0.016) and total concentrations (p = 0.041) showed a significant downward trend over the five-year study period. Additionally, when controlling for period and sex, older donors showed lower total MP and PP concentrations (p = 0.004 and p = 0.002, respectively) but higher PMMA and PS concentrations (p = 0.028 and p = 0.021, respectively), whereas, after controlling for age and period, females showed higher total MP and PMMA concentrations than males (p = 0.039 and p = 0.034, respectively). This counterintuitive decrease suggests that increased environmental plastic use does not immediately translate into higher human blood MP concentrations, highlighting the complex nature of MP kinetics and the need for further longitudinal research.
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