05 Aug UC Health: Microplastics Are Everywhere – What you need to know about the health impacts!
The following article is titled “Microplastics are everywhere, from water to food. What you need to know about the health impacts of microplastics.” It was written by Kelly Ragan for UCHealth Today.
How can you stay safe from microplastics? Are they causing cancer in young people? Should you ditch your plastic water bottle? What about eating seafood? Everything you need to know to stay safe from microplastics.
Go here for more from UC Health.
Credit: Environmental Working Group.
Microplastics are everywhere. From an infant’s first poop to the depths of the Mariana Trench, the tiny particles are impossible to avoid.
Some researchers estimate that each of us is consuming a credit card’s worth of microplastics each week.
How big of a deal is that?
While interest has skyrocketed in recent years, science is still racing to catch up. Some evidence suggests microplastics could be linked to cancer, infertility, heart disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease and more.
With rising colorectal cancer rates in younger adults and rising rates of lung cancer among people who have never smoked, the call for answers is getting louder.
Scientists like Dr. Suzhao Li are working to answer that call.
Li, who has both medical and doctorate degrees, is an associate research professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She specializes in infectious disease and inflammation immunology.
When she first heard about microplastics years ago, she didn’t pay much attention. Like most of us, she drank water out of plastic bottles and ate food that came in plastic packaging. She certainly didn’t think microplastics would become an important part of her job.
But as more research was published, microplastics and their potential health impacts became a focus for Li.
When did you start paying attention to microplastics?…
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