Could Microplastics Be Responsible for Growing Burden of Allergies?

A new mouse study suggests microplastic exposure could be responsible for the growing burden of allergies.

Allergy rates have increased dramatically in recent years in the US, with as many as 100 million people experiencing some kind of allergy (seasonal, eczema or food allergies).

The most common, by far, are seasonal allergies like hayfever and allergic rhinitis.

Undiagnosed allergies could be even higher, since the CDC’s statistics focus only on diagnosed conditions.

A new study suggests microplastic particles can cause chronic inflammation in the airways and alter the immune response associated with allergies.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics were introduced first to the airways and then to the abdomens of mice.

Medical Xpress reports, “During this period [the introduction of microplastics to the airways], an inflammatory response occurred, characterized by increased migration of lymphocytes and eosinophils—immune cells typically involved in allergic reactions. When the administration of PET-MPs was combined with ragweed pollen, a common respiratory allergen, respiratory inflammation was exacerbated under certain conditions.

“In further experiments, in which PET-MPs were introduced via the abdominal cavity in combination with other allergens, an altered systemic immune response was observed: the PET-MPs exacerbated the inflammation and influenced the antibody response against the allergen.”

“Our study shows that PET microplastics do not simply remain in the body, but actively influence immune responses involved in the development and exacerbation of allergic reactions and inflammation,” explains study lead Michelle Epstein.

More than nine billion tons of plastic are estimated to have been produced between 1950 and 2017, and over half that total has been produced since 2004. The vast majority of that plastic has ended up in the environment, where it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, some of which will end up in our bodies.

Nowhere on earth is untouched by plastic pollution now. Microplastics circulate like a force of nature, in water, in the air and in rain and snow.

Researchers estimate 43 trillion pieces of microplastic land on Switzerland in snow every year, the equivalent of 3,000 tons. Up to 10% of the microplastics may have come from winds and weather taking place in the Atlantic, 1,200 miles away.

Within our homes, microplastics are mainly produced when synthetic fibres from clothes, furnishings and carpets are shed. They accumulate in large quantities in dust and float around in the air, which we then inhale.

New studies are appearing at a steady pace, linking microplastic exposure to virtually every form of chronic disease, from irritable bowel syndrome, obesity and autism, to cancer, Alzheimer’s and infertility.