Microplastics from homes and cars threaten our health

Everywhere we look, we find microplastics, even in the air we breathe in our homes and cars. The biggest concern is how small these particles are, completely invisible to the naked eye. We inhale thousands of them every day without realizing it. Deep in our lungs, microplastics release toxic additives that enter the bloodstream and cause multiple diseases.

Research by a team at the University of Toulouse and published in the journal ' Plos One ' shows that we could be inhaling 68,000 microplastics entering our lungs every day in our homes and cars – 100 times previous estimates.

Previous research has detected tiny plastic fragments, known as microplastics, suspended in the air in a wide variety of outdoor and indoor environments worldwide. The ubiquity of these airborne pollutants has raised concerns about their potential health effects, as inhaled microplastic particles can penetrate the lungs and pose risks of oxidative stress, effects on the immune system, and organ damage.

However, previous research on airborne microplastics has focused primarily on larger particles, between 20 and 200 micrometers in diameter, which are less likely to penetrate the lungs than particles 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller.

To better understand the risk of inhaling microplastics, the team led by Nadiia Yakovenko collected air samples from their own homes and cars.

"We set out to investigate how much microplastic we breathe indoors, and the results were surprising and worrying," explains Yakovenko. "People spend around 90% of their time indoors—at home, at work, on public transport, or in stores—and are constantly exposed to these pollutants without realizing it."

Using a technique called Raman spectroscopy, they were able to measure the concentrations of microplastics, including those between 1 and 10 micrometers in diameter, in 16 air samples.

The results were not very encouraging; they found that the average concentration of microplastics detected in air samples from homes was 528 particles per cubic meter, and in cars, 2,238 particles per cubic meter. Ninety-four percent of the particles detected were smaller than 10 micrometers.

"These tiny particles can reach deep into the respiratory system," he says. "What was most shocking was that the concentrations detected were 100 times higher than previous estimates."

The researchers then combined their results with previously published data on indoor microplastic exposure and estimated that adults inhale about 3,200 microplastic particles per day in the 10- to 300-micrometer diameter range, and 68,000 particles ranging from 1 to 10 micrometers per day—100 times higher than previous estimates for small-diameter exposures.

The study also challenges the idea that plastic pollution is limited to oceans or industrial zones . "We were surprised to find so many microplastics in places we usually consider safe, like our own homes or cars," the researcher added. "Textiles, carpets, curtains, paints, and other household objects degrade and release these particles into the air," the researcher said.

In addition to the physical impact, microplastics can contain toxic additives such as bisphenol A and phthalates, which could enter the bloodstream. Although research is still ongoing, there is growing concern about the long-term effects of inhaling microplastics.

"There are already indications that they could contribute to respiratory problems, hormonal disorders, infertility, neurodevelopmental disorders, and certain types of cancer," he concludes.