While we continue to worry about microplastics in food and water, a team of international researchers has discovered an even more direct and worrying route of contamination, the one that passes through hospital drips. The study, published in the scientific journal Environment & Healthanalyzed intravenous infusion bags commonly used in hospitals, revealing a problem that had remained in the shadows for decades.
As far back as the 1970s, researchers had noticed strange solid particles in IV bag solutions, but couldn’t identify them with certainty. Today, thanks to advanced analytical techniques such as Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, we finally know what it was: polypropylene microplastics, the material with which the bags themselves are produced.
The team led by Professor Liwu Zhang of Fudan University analyzed infusion bottles of two different brands, simulating real hospital use conditions in the laboratory. The results showed that each liter of solution can contain around 7,500 microplastic particles, with sizes ranging from 1 to 62 micrometres.
How many microplastics can end up in patients’ blood?
The numbers are sobering. A single 250 milliliter bag can release thousands of plastic particles into the bloodstream. But the picture becomes even more worrying in some specific clinical situations.
In the case of severe dehydration, for example, a patient can receive a total of between 31,500 and 42,000 plastic particles. During abdominal surgery, when up to 7 liters of fluids are administered, exposure can be as high as approximately 52,500 particles. And for hospitalized patients who need to maintain fluid balance, the estimated daily intake ranges between 24,375 and 30,000 particles per day.
Figures that help us understand the extent of the phenomenon and make us reflect on the impact that these repeated exposures can have on our health.
What makes the picture even more disturbing is the size of these particles. Approximately 90% fall within a range between 1 and 20 micrometers and, of these, as many as 60% measure between 1 and 10 micrometers: dimensions that allow them to pass through capillaries and potentially deposit in organs. A detail that reinforces concerns about the long-term effects of these invisible exposures.
The health risks are not to be underestimated
Microplastics in the blood are not a theoretical problem. Recent studies have shown that these particles can trigger inflammatory responses, oxidative stress and cell death. They have been found in the atherosclerotic plaque of the carotid arteries, in thrombi and in various organs such as the liver, lungs, kidneys and spleen.
Research cited in the study revealed that patients with polymers in arterial plaques had a 4.5 times greater risk of fatal events over the course of 34 months of follow-up. Other studies have documented cases of pulmonary complications, clot formation and organ dysfunction linked to the presence of particulate matter in infusions.
As if that weren’t enough, microplastics can make bacteria resistant to antibiotics, increasing the risk of infections that are increasingly difficult to treat.
What can be done?
Researchers propose several solutions to reduce this risk:
It is paradoxical to think that medical procedures designed to cure can instead introduce potentially harmful substances into our bodies. Microplastics are now around us, we inhale and ingest about half a kilogram of them per year, and they have been found in every human organ and tissue analyzed.
But knowing that they can directly enter the blood through IVs makes the issue even more urgent to address.
