Little plastics in blood arteries increase the risk of a heart attack: study

NEW DELHI: According to recent research, minute plastic particles prevalent in the environment may penetrate vital blood vessels and other body organs, leading to cardiovascular problems.
257 individuals had surgery to remove plaque or fatty deposits from the carotid arteries, which are located on the side of the neck and provide blood to the brain. The patients were recruited by researchers from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples, Italy.

Similar to the arteries delivering blood to the heart, the carotid arteries on each side of the neck may clog as a result of fat buildup. To lessen the constriction and, therefore, the risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attack and stroke, such plaques must be surgically removed.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) study reports that out of 257 patients who had surgery, 150 patients (58%) had plaque removed that contained microplastics, or particles smaller than 5 mm, and nanoplastics, also known as MNPs, or particles smaller than 1,000 nanometers. Of those, 31 patients (12%) also had detectable levels of polyvinyl chloride in their carotid plaque.
“Patients with evidence of MNPs were younger; more likely to be men; less likely to have hypertension; more likely to have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dyslipidemia; more likely to smoke; and had higher creatinine values than those without evidence of plastics in excised plaque; other clinical variables appeared to be similar in the two groups,” according to the NEJM study.
Following confirmation of the plastics’ existence, the patients were followed for 34 months in order to report cardiovascular effects by the researchers.
Researchers discovered that individuals with MNPs or small plastic particles identified inside plaques had a 4.5-fold increased risk of non-fatal heart attack, stroke, or death from any cause compared to those without these materials found within plaques.