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Analysis\nof Microplastics in Human Feces Reveals a\nCorrelation between Fecal Microplastics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease\nStatus
Summary
Researchers found higher concentrations and greater diversity of microplastics in fecal samples from inflammatory bowel disease patients compared to healthy controls, suggesting a potential association between microplastic ingestion and gut inflammation, though causality remains to be established.
Human\ningestion of microplastics (MPs) is inevitable due to the\nubiquity of MPs in various foods and drinking water. Whether the ingestion\nof MPs poses a substantial risk to human health is far from understood.\nHere, by analyzing the characteristics of MPs in the feces of patients\nwith inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and healthy people, for the\nfirst time, we found that the fecal MP concentration in IBD patients\n(41.8 items/g dm) was significantly higher than that in healthy people\n(28.0 items/g dm). In total, 15 types of MPs were detected in feces,\nwith poly(ethylene terephthalate) (22.3–34.0%) and polyamide\n(8.9–12.4%) being dominant, and their primary shapes were sheets\nand fibers, respectively. We present evidence indicating that a positive\ncorrelation exists between the concentration of fecal MPs and the\nseverity of IBD. Combining a questionnaire survey and the characteristics\nof fecal MPs, we conclude that the plastic packaging of drinking water\nand food and dust exposure are important sources of human exposure\nto MPs. Furthermore, the positive correlation between fecal MPs and\nIBD status suggests that MP exposure may be related to the disease\nprocess or that IBD exacerbates the retention of MPs. The relative\nmechanisms deserve further studies. Our results also highlight that\nfecal MPs are useful for assessing human MP exposure and potential\nhealth risks.
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