Microplastics in the human body one of the 22 most amazing discoveries of 2022

National Geographic listed the 22 most amazing discoveries of the last year. Among them the discovery of microplastics in the human body.

Plastic fragments have been found at the heights of Mount Everest and in the deepest depths of the ocean—and now, for the first time, within the blood and lungs of the human body. In donated blood, researchers found nanoplastics, less than one micrometer across, which could have been inhaled or eaten. They also found plastic fibers as long as two millimeters in the lungs of surgical patients. It’s still not clear how, or even whether, these plastic bits can harm our health—but “yes, we should be concerned,” says ecotoxicologist Dick Vethaak. “Plastics should not be in your blood.”