Living near an ocean polluted by microplastics may increase cardiometabolic disease risk

Living in a U.S. coastal county bordered by ocean waters with very high concentrations of microplastics may increase the risk of heart and metabolic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease and stroke. This risk was higher compared to residents of coastal counties with low levels of microplastic pollution in nearby waters, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

In this study, researchers examined whether the concentration of plastic particles in ocean water near coastal communities was associated with higher incidence of Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease and stroke among residents in those counties. Researchers examined concentrations of marine microplastic pollution (likely a combination of both micro- and nano-plastics) within 200 nautical miles of the counties, dividing the pollution levels into four categories based on mean marine microplastic levels (MML):

• low pollution (0–0.005 pieces/m³): described as almost nothing visible — maybe one tiny plastic speck in 200 bathtubs of ocean water;
• medium pollution (0.005–1 pieces/m³): up to 1 small plastic particle per 200 bathtubs of ocean water;
• high pollution (1–10 pieces/m³): likely to be a small handful of small plastic bits floating in each bathtub of ocean water;
• and very high pollution (10+ pieces/m³) every scoop of ocean water (about the size of a bathtub) could contain 10 or more plastic particles.

Source: Eurek Alert!