News
How may microbes on the surface of plastics influence human health?
In which ways can microbes on the surface of plastics affect human health? And which pieces of the puzzle need to be solved in order to include the ...
Race against time to unravel health effects of microplastics
The Washington Post published an article this week discussing the current progress and challenges in microplastics research. Back in 2015, it was ...
Documentary and New York Times article explore health risks of microplastics
A new documentary exploring the growing threat of microplastics for human health premiers at the SXSW Film Festival this month. The film titled “Plastic ...
Presence of nanoplastics tied to higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death
The presence of micro- and nanoplastics in human arteries has been linked to cardiovascular diseases. A new study followed 257 patients with narrowed blood ...
Scientists find bottled water teeming with nanoplastics
Bottled water has been found to contain hundreds of thousands of tiny particles of plastic that have not previously been counted, raising questions over ...
Finished your bottle of water? Then you also ingested hundreds of plastic particles
Disposable bottles of water contain about 240,000 plastic particles per liter, according to a recent American study published in the American journal PNAS. ...
When drinking from disposable bottles, you ingest countless pieces of nanoplastic
The presence of plastic particles in disposable water bottles has been known for some time, but the concrete number of 240,000 particles per liter on ...
Meet the Crew: Bart Koelmans
In MOMENTUM, we collaborate with more than thirty research partners and industrial partners. By no means everyone knows each other, which is why we are ...
Fashion’s invisible fallout: the impact of textile microfibers on lung health
How can tiny plastic fibers affect lung cells? Researchers of University of Groningen and their MOMENTUM colleagues discovered that nylon fibers are ...
Microplastics were found in D.C. rivers. Researchers want to find why.
In an article of the Washington Post, MOMENTUM’s Dick Vethaak was asked to give his expert opinion on the human health risks microplastics pose to ...
Launch of 7 new projects for research into microplastics
With new grants totalling € 2,100,000 from ZonMw, 7 new breakthrough projects will start. These projects will do further research into microplastics and ...
Malvern Panalytical Future Days Presentations
On 5 October 2023, Malvern Panalytical organized the “Malvern Panalytical Future Days – The Plastics and Polymers edition”. This event ...
Pointer Checkt: interview with Roel Vermeulen
The Dutch Youtube series ‘Pointer Checkt’ is a program that seeks to counter disinformation by searching for the facts ...
You are always eating plastic and now drowning in it
Did you know that microplastics are already present in the human bloodstream? Dick Vethaak, emeritus professor of Water Quality and Health at Vrije ...
Microplastics have been found in the human heart for the first time ever
According to a new study published in the Environmental Science and Technology, doctors made the discovery at Beijing Anzhen Hospital in ...
Presentation at the AquaConSoil 2023
AquaConSoil is a bi-yearly event where scientists, policy- and decisionmakers and industry representatives gather to learn, share and engage on sustainable ...
New grant awarded for research on health effects of microplastics
What happens when microplastics enter the human body? While the amount of microplastics in our environment is increasing, we know very little about the ...
Pearl for groundbreaking research into microplastics in the placenta
There are growing signs that microplastics and nanoplastics can affect human health. In September last year it was announced that microplastics in the ...
Presentations at the 33rd annual meeting of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
MOMENTUM member Prof. Dr. Barbro Melgert and MOMENTUM postdoc Martin Brits both presented their research at the 33rd annual meeting of the Society ...
Are microplastics invading the male reproductive system?
A new pilot study shows that microplastics — plastic particles that are smaller than five millimeters or close to the size of a short rice grain – can be ...
Interview NPO Radio 1 with Dr. Emma Kasteel and Annemijne van den Berg
Dr. Emma Kasteel and Annemijne van den Berg were invited to talk about microplastics on the Dutch radio programme ‘De Nacht van KRO-NCRV’ on ...
‘Glitter’ – Keuringsdienst van Waarde
Glamour, you either have it, or you don’t. Glitter, on the other hand, you can buy. Glittery store shelves count thousands of varieties. From ...
Microplastics are in our bodies. Here’s why we don’t know the health risks
“What we are looking at is the biggest oil spill ever,” says Maria Westerbos, founder of the Plastic Soup Foundation, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit advocacy ...
Calls Microplastics & Health have been opened
The programme Microplastics & Health from ZonMw has opened two calls for research on the health effects of micro- and nanoplastics: one for the ...
Microplastics will still be in our cosmetics for years to come
Although research has proven that microplastics could potentially be harmful for our health, the EU ban on microplastics in make-up is still years away. ...
Quest article: How bad are microplastics for your body?
Several studies now have shown that microplastics can practically be found anywhere, including your own body. You eat them, drink them and breathe them in, ...
Documentary: Plastic Time Bomb
The American news network Newsy made a documentary about the Plastic Time Bomb. This documentary is part of the series ‘In Real Life’, which ...
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 ...
Modeling invisible plastics
By now, you probably know what nano- and microplastics are. Yes, very very small pieces of plastic. They are thought to originate from a variety of human ...
The plastic problem of the Biesbosch and what it means for our drinking water
One of the most unique nature reserves in the Netherlands is severely polluted with waste. The Biesbosch has seen an increase in visitors during the years ...
Car tires and plastic packaging are the biggest contributors to microplastics in the Netherlands
According to a new report from the research institute TNO, there are 291 kilotons (291 million kilos) of microplastics on the ground, in the soil and in ...
Car tires are the largest source of microplastics and they will eventually end up in the body
Although only a small amount of all the plastic that is used is found in car tires, those rubber tires are one of the main sources of microplastics. Tires ...
Interview | Microplastics seep into our water and our bodies. These products may help
Microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, but experts say we can take steps to reduce our exposure. For half a century, humans have incorporated ...
Interview Koffietijd – Plastics in your cosmetics?!
Professor Barbo Melgert was invited to talk about plastics in our cosmetics on the Dutch TV program “Koffietijd”. Can plastic particles be ...
The evidence is piling up: the plastic particles in our clothing makes us sick.
Synthetic material causes intestinal disorders and chronic pneumonias among workers of the textile industry. The evidence that the plastic particles in ...
You breathe your sweater and it’s damaging to your health: the danger of plastic microfibers
Synthetic clothes shed large amounts of microplastics, which are possibly dangerous for your health. It is documented in an overview report made up from ...
Interview | You eat over 900 tiny pieces of plastic a day
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that pollute the air, the oceans, and the food we eat. Scientists have discovered that we carry microplastics in ...
Interview | Are we becoming plastic people?
Microplastics. They are in our beer, salt, fresh fruit and vegetables, and drinking water. We eat, according to one estimate, a credit card’s worth ...
Microplastics found in breast milk of 75 percent of new mums
Microplastics have been discovered in human breast milk for the first time, scientists have warned. Infants are especially vulnerable to chemical ...
Microplastics found in human breast milk for the first time
Researchers are concerned over potential health impacts of chemical contaminants on babies. Source: The Guardian Microplastics have been detected in human ...