Microplastics And Heavy Metals
Now, more than ever, understanding environmental issues is important for protecting human health. New research suggests that microplastics in the environment act as a transportation vehicle for heavy metals.
This means that microplastics may be even more toxic than previously thought, but that reducing microplastic exposure also reduces exposure to heavy metals.
This is exactly what we are going to dive into today, understanding the connections between environmental systems, plastic pollution, heavy metals, and our health.
Keep reading to learn more about:
- What are microplastics?
- What are heavy metals?
- How do microplastics and heavy metals interact?
- What are the health impacts of this interaction?
- What can you do, beginning today, to reduce exposure and support your health?
What Are Microplastics?
Microplastics are small pieces of plastic (smaller than 5 millimeters) in the environment that present a danger to ecosystems and human health.
Microplastics are either plastics manufactured at a small size (such as microbeads) or larger plastics, such as plastic bottles or bags,that have broken into smaller pieces over time and with weathering.
Microplastics accumulate in nature, especially in oceans, lakes, sediment, drinking water and food. This type of plastic pollution makes its way into animals and humans and is associated with both short- and long-term adverse effects.
Microplastics negatively impact feeding, reproduction, antioxidant defense systems and immunity in various organisms across ecosystems and food chains.
To learn more about microplastic damage and consequences to health, read How Microplastics Are Impacting Pollution And Health.
What Are Heavy Metals?
Heavy metals occur naturally in the environment, but the high levels that we experience today are largely due to human contamination and industry.
Heavy metals don’t degrade and persist in the environment posing various environmental and health risks.
Heavy metals include:
- Lead
- Mercury
- Arsenic
- Cadmium
- Aluminum
Human health risks depend upon the specific metal, its form and the route of exposure. In general, heavy metals interrupt balance in the body and produce free radicals that damage proteins, cells and DNA.
Heavy metals in the body puts a great demand on antioxidant systems, the immune system and detoxification pathways.
Many metals are hard to detoxify from the body, causing damage as they recirculate.
When Microplastics Meet Heavy Metals
Separately microplastics are persistent pollutants, but together they represent a new pollution threat.
Microplastics traveling through waterways or in the air pick up heavy metals along the way.
We once thought of plastic as inert, as not reacting with metals. We now know that microplastic interact with microbes that create biofilms on the plastic itself, this creates the condition for the plastic to bind to or absorb the metals they come in contact with.
Factors that influence the association between microplastics and heavy metals include:
- Time
- Temperature
- pH
- particle size
- UV exposure
A recent study from the Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry, published in Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters studied the connection between microplastics and heavy metals in the lab.
In the study, plastic particles from polyethylene (shopping bags) and polyethylene terephthalate (plastic water bottles) were found to bind to metals including chromium, iron, bismuth, beryllium, indium, tin and rare-earth elements. It only took one hour for the metals to attach.
Researchers found that the smaller the particle, the more metal accumulation there was. In addition, more accumulation was seen on the polyethylene plastic versus polyethylene terephthalate.
The influence of pH was particularly fascinating. The studies showed that the microplastics accumulate metals at a neutral pH and then release them at an acidic pH.
This research suggests that microplastics may pick up metals, including toxic ones, in the environment and then release them in the acidic digestive system where they enter the body. Hitching a ride on plastic may be one way that toxic metals are transported through the food chain.
In a seahorse study, researchers demonstrated that the negative effect of the microplastics may be due to the heavy metal exposure versus the microplastics themselves. The seahorses exposed to heavy metals via microplastics had lower weight, growth and survival than the seahorses exposed to microplastics alone or the control group. It isn’t just human health that this global pollution effects.
The combination of microplastics and heavy metals further threatens food chains and the human food supply. Many species of fish, for example, are becoming too toxic for human consumption. In addition, there are currently no water quality standards for microplastics.
Human Health Effects
We associate microplastics with endocrine disruption, reproductive harm and cancer.
It may be impossible to fully realize the risks based on limited data in this area. Whereas heavy metals are a neurotoxin affecting brain function and behaviors. Together, humans and other organisms may suffer from the combined effects.
A 2021 review in Frontiers in Microbiology outlines the potential combined toxic effects to humans, including:
- Immune system suppression
- Chronic neurotoxicity (associated with mercury)
- Damage to nervous and digestive systems (associated with lead)
- DNA damage
- Increase in cancer risk (associated with chromium)
- Oxidative stress
- Inflammation
- Metabolic dysregulation
- Chronic stress response
Much of the research is still on single exposures and there is a lot more to learn about the possible health effects of combined and chronic exposures.
The scientists who wrote this review conclude that microplastics and heavy metal combined exposure “can increase adverse effects and bring unpredictable harm to the biosphere.”
Action Steps
The news isn’t all bad! There is a lot that you can do to protect yourself from both microplastics and heavy metals while advocating for a cleaner environment.
Here are some action items to consider:
1. Ditch plastic. Or better yet, ban single-use plastics in your community and on a larger scale. Most plastic isn’t recycled and instead ends up as litter or in the landfill, polluting waterways.
For tips on how to reduce plastic consumption, and what to use instead, read Plastic Pollution – The Impact of Single Use Plastic and What You Can Do.
2. Filter your water. Luckily, reverse osmosis filtration filters out both plastics and metals. Learn more about this type of filtration and how to add back in healthy minerals, like magnesium and calcium, back into your water here.
3. Test your body for heavy metals and other toxins. Do you have brain fog, headaches, or a cluster of non-specific symptoms? Or do you have metabolic issues or chronic disease? Toxin exposure may be a missing piece to your diagnosis or healing puzzle. Functional Medicine testing is helpful for identifying the specific toxins that are high.
Then, you can work with your Functional Medicine provider to identify the source of the exposures and a personalized detoxification protocol to effectively clear them from the body.
4. Up your antioxidants for extra protection. A nutrient-rich Paleo diet that includes lots of colorful plant foods is foundational. Beyond that, quality supplements are extremely supportive. A few to consider are liposomal glutathione, Liver Detox Protect, Exceed Greens + Reds, resveratrol and curcumin.
Microplastics are a major global issue. Plastic doesn’t degrade easily; it simply breaks down into smaller particles and pollutes the environment.
With all the harm that plastic causes, we now know that microplastics also act as a carrier for heavy metals that make their way into our bodies.
We are not separate from the environment, what harms the earth, harms us.
But the good news is, that when we heal and regenerate, the earth does too. What’s one step you can take today to begin?
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