“Much remains unknown, but this is certainly cause for concern and follow-up study,” Rutgers professor Philip Demokritou said.
, was presented this week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in D.C.
“Much remains unknown, but this is certainly cause for concern and follow-up study,” Philip Demokritou, a Rutgers professor in nanoscience and environmental bioengineering,As part of the research, specially marked nanoscale plastics were provided to five pregnant rats. Subsequent imaging found these nanoplastic particles permeated not only the rats’ placentas, but also the livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs and brains of their offspring.
The scientists noted that previous studies in pregnant laboratory animals found adding these plastics to food impairs their offspring in various ways, but that research hadn’t determined whether mothers passed the plastics to their fetuses. Demokritou said future studies will investigate how different types of plastics cross cell barriers, how plastic particle size affects the process, and how plastics hinder fetal development.
“I don’t want to scare people, but this is an emerging contaminant, and we have a lot of unknowns in terms of the risks,”“We cannot go back to the Stone Age, but as a society we need to become smarter, embrace sustainable concepts, to avoid crises like this,” he added. “All of us, scientists, the public, society at large, regulators, we need to rethink how we produce and use materials and chemicals in general.
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