NEW DELHI: Tiny plastic particles present in environment can enter body parts, including key blood vessels, and cause cardiovascular complications, a new study found.
Researchers from University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples, Italy enrolled 257 patients who came for surgery to remove plaque or fatty deposits in the carotid artery – arteries present on side of the neck that supplies blood to the brain.
Carotid arteries that are present on side of the neck can become clogged due to fat deposition just like arteries supplying blood to heart. Surgery is needed to remove such plaques to reduce the narrowing and, therefore, risk of cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke.
According to the study published in New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), of 257 patients who underwent surgery, microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics or MNPs (particles smaller than 1,000 nanometers) were found in plaques removed from 150 patients (58%) and 31 of those (12%) also had a measurable amount of polyvinyl chloride in carotid plaque.
“Patients with evidence of MNPs were younger; more likely to be men; less likely to have hypertension; more likely to have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dyslipidemia; more likely to smoke; and had higher creatinine values than those without evidence of plastics in excised plaque; other clinical variables appeared to be similar in the two groups,” the NEJM study says.
Once presence of plastics was confirmed, researchers went on to follow-up patients for 34 months to record cardiovascular complications.
The researchers found that patients in whom MNPs or tiny plastic particles were detected within plaques were 4.5 times more likely to have a non-fatal heart attack, stroke, or death from any cause than those in whom these substances were not detected.
Researchers from University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples, Italy enrolled 257 patients who came for surgery to remove plaque or fatty deposits in the carotid artery – arteries present on side of the neck that supplies blood to the brain.
Carotid arteries that are present on side of the neck can become clogged due to fat deposition just like arteries supplying blood to heart. Surgery is needed to remove such plaques to reduce the narrowing and, therefore, risk of cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke.
According to the study published in New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), of 257 patients who underwent surgery, microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics or MNPs (particles smaller than 1,000 nanometers) were found in plaques removed from 150 patients (58%) and 31 of those (12%) also had a measurable amount of polyvinyl chloride in carotid plaque.
“Patients with evidence of MNPs were younger; more likely to be men; less likely to have hypertension; more likely to have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dyslipidemia; more likely to smoke; and had higher creatinine values than those without evidence of plastics in excised plaque; other clinical variables appeared to be similar in the two groups,” the NEJM study says.
Once presence of plastics was confirmed, researchers went on to follow-up patients for 34 months to record cardiovascular complications.
The researchers found that patients in whom MNPs or tiny plastic particles were detected within plaques were 4.5 times more likely to have a non-fatal heart attack, stroke, or death from any cause than those in whom these substances were not detected.