Iranian Scientist Finds Liver as Final Destination of Absorbed Microplastics
Arash Javanshir Khoyee, a faculty member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources department of University of Tehran, in a research titled ‘Microplastics in the Caspian Sea Region's Ecosystem’ tracked the path of microplastics in the human body and understood that the most-likely place they tend to migrate is the liver.
“Given the human lifestyle today, plastics come in the form of scales, strings or balls and are absorbed by aquatic and other animals in nature, including oceans and seas, and on land,” Javanshir Khoyee explained.
Noting that at present, nearly 6 billion tons of microplastics exist in the North Pole, he said, “Plastics have found their way and increased in nature in a way that even a polar bear has one kilogram of absorbed plastic in his body.”
Javanshir Khoyee stated that microplastics find their way to the human body due to the use of marine and non-marine animal meat and by inhaling them in the air, and added, “These substances are absorbed through the bowel wall and finally enter the liver.”
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that result from both commercial product development and the breakdown of larger plastics.
As a pollutant, microplastics can be harmful to the environment and animal and human health.
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