According to the latest estimates, each person could consume on average between 0.1 and 5 grams of microplastics per week through contaminated food and drink. Now, a study by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) has found that this accidental ingestion of PET microplastics (polyethylene terephthalate) could reduce the intestinal microbiota of the colon and alter the balance of the microorganisms present.
When foods or beverages containing PET microplastics, which have been associated with the food chain, are inadvertently consumed, the number of beneficial bacteria in the colon is reduced, while other microbial groups associated with pathogenic activity are increased, the authors explain in the Scientific Reports magazine.
This study is the first to analyze the effects of microplastic ingestion on the digestive tract and on the human gut microbiota. In addition, it is the first time that there is evidence that these microplastics can undergo biotransformations while they travel through the gastrointestinal tract, so they reach the colon with a structurally different form than the original.
Know if microplastics remain in tissues or organs
The tests that have led to these findings have been carried out with in vitro models of gastrointestinal digestion, a method that has been patented by the CSIC and is called simgi®. In this way, it was possible to house the human microbiota while it was intervened with microplastics and thanks to the combination of electron microscopy and spectroscopy it was possible to monitor changes in the structure and morphology of microplastics throughout the digestive tract.
It is the first time that microplastics have been observed to change their structure (biotransformation) as they travel through the gastrointestinal tract
“Given the possible chronic exposure to these particles through our diet, the results obtained suggest that their continued intake could alter the intestinal balance and, therefore, health,” explains Victoria Moreno, a researcher at the Institute for Research in Sciences of the Food (CIAL) of the CSIC and one of the authors of the study.
All these factors and mechanisms are beginning to be studied, but the authors emphasize that it is very important to know the fate of these microplastics in the body, to know if they remain or accumulate in tissues or organs, and what are the consequences of their presence in the short term. , medium and long term.
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