{"id":85016,"date":"2025-09-25T15:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/85016\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:34:11","slug":"microplastics-found-deep-inside-human-bones-scientists-warn-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/85016\/","title":{"rendered":"Microplastics Found Deep Inside Human Bones, Scientists Warn : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microplastics are now so ubiquitous we’re drinking<\/a>, eating<\/a>, and inhaling<\/a> them. As a result, they’re showing up in our poop<\/a>, placentas<\/a>, reproductive organs<\/a>, and brains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now these fossil-fuel-derived particles, less than 5 mm in size, have been found deep within our bones.<\/p>\n

A new review of 62 studies suggests microplastics and smaller nanoplastics are impacting our skeletal health in multiple ways.<\/p>\n

Related: Study Reveals The Shocking Amount of Plastic We Breathe in Every Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“A significant body of research suggests that microplastics can reach deep into bone tissue, such as bone marrow, and potentially cause disturbances in its metabolism,” says<\/a> medical scientist Rodrigo Bueno de Oliveira at the State University of Campinas in Brazil.<\/p>\n

\"DiagramSources of microplastic. (Raubenheimer, Chem. Int., 2025<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Some of the studies<\/a> in humans found these plastic leftovers accumulating in bone tissues via the blood, following ingestion. There, animal studies<\/a> show they can reduce bone growth.<\/p>\n

What’s more, disruptions in osteoclasts<\/a> \u2013 cells that support bone growth and repair \u2013 can lead to weakened bone structures, making these compromised bones more susceptible to deformities and fractures.<\/p>\n

“In vitro studies with bone tissue cells have shown that microplastics impair cell viability, accelerate cell aging, and alter cell differentiation, in addition to promoting inflammation,” explains<\/a> Bueno de Oliveira.<\/p>\n

“The adverse effects observed culminated, worryingly, in the interruption of the animals’ skeletal growth.”<\/p>\n

\"BlueInterior of an MG-63 bone cell magnified 400x with microplastic spheres highlighted in blue and the cell nucleus in red. (Mariana Cassani de Oliveira\/LEMON\/FCM-UNICAMP)<\/p>\n

While this may not translate to human bones, there is an increasing global prevalence of osteoporosis<\/a>, a condition where bones become more brittle and prone to fractures. Researchers suspect that microplastics may be a contributing factor, along with other established risks like drinking and an aging population.<\/p>\n

Yet still, experts warn,<\/a> we’re increasing this “underrecognized danger,” producing at least 400 million metric tons<\/a> (441 million US tons) of plastic each year, a process contributing 1.8 billion metric tons<\/a> of greenhouse gases per annum.<\/p>\n

For years now<\/a>, researchers have been calling for more resources to investigate the impacts these problematic petrochemical pollutants<\/a> are having on our bodies.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we can somewhat reduce our exposure to microplastics by filtering our drinking water and limiting plastic products, from synthetic clothing<\/a> to plastic drink bottles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This research was published in Osteoporosis International<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Microplastics are now so ubiquitous we’re drinking, eating, and inhaling them. As a result, they’re showing up in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[18,135,19,17,808],"class_list":{"0":"post-85016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-msft-content"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}