Microplastic

The latest findings around the impacts of plastic on the human body center on liver and lung cells, which lab research has shown can ingest nano-scale plastic particles and undergo metabolic changes as a result.

Tiny fragments of plastic are now strewn across the entire globe and are beginning to show up in different parts of the human body. But what are the health risks associated with ingesting and inhaling this now omnipresent synthetic material?

Microplastics are a major environmental problem, but a new study could help cut out a decent chunk of them. Silk could be a biodegradable replacement for microbeads and particles that are often added to cosmetics, paints and other products.

Scientists in the Netherlands studying the spread of microplastics have turned their eye to meat and dairy products and discovered high rates of contamination in farm animals, raising new questions around the widespread nature of plastic pollution.

Scientists have come up with a novel cleanup solution for microplastic pollution that takes its cues from nature, in the form of a fish-like robot that can move through the water and soak up small plastic fragments as it goes.

The ongoing discovery of microplastics in remote, seemingly pristine corners of the world continues to add important detail to a troubling picture of widespread pollution, and the latest finding takes the threat into new terrain.

Because they feed by filtering seawater, mussels are particularly vulnerable to pollutants present within that water. According to new research, it now looks like waterborne microplastics could keep the molluscs from growing to their regular size.

Scientists have turned to trusty fruit flies as a model to learn more about how plastic particles may impact human health, tracking them through the intestinal tract to find they alter gene expression involved in stress response and oxidative damage.

The sludge that is created through sewage treatment processes is rich in nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen, making it an excellent source of fertilizer for agriculture. But research has found it also contains significant amounts of microplastics.

The way plastic moves through the environment is of great concern to scientists, and a first-of-a-kind study has unearthed disconcerting new information on how microplastics can carry pathogens far out to sea and endanger marine life.

Scientists are continuing to uncover the true extent of our plastic pollution problem, and the latest development in this area offers up the first evidence of plastic particles being absorbed into the human bloodstream.

If you've ever eaten okra, then you'll know that the stuff can be pretty … gooey. According to new research, that quality could allow a compound from the plant to be used in a less toxic method of removing microplastics from drinking water.