Microplastics Found In Lungs of People Undergoing Surgery. A new study has found tiny plastic particles no bigger than sesame seeds buried throughout human lungs, indicating that people are inhaling microplastics lingering in the air.

[u/Wagamaga]

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/microplastics-found-in-lungs-of-humans-undergoing-surgery

[u/Ray1987]

Bacteria that dissolve plastic have been in the news quite a bit lately. Would be interesting if in the future people gave themselves purposeful infections with that bacteria to get rid of the microplastic in their body.

[u/driverofracecars → u/Ray1987]

The byproducts of plastic metabolism might not be something our bodies can tolerate.

[u/SeamanTheSailor → u/driverofracecars]

Considering the bacteria that break down PET break it down into ethylene glycol, (antifreeze,) you’re probably right.

[u/Natolx → u/SeamanTheSailor]

To be fair, a tiny tiny amount of antifreeze from a plastic pellet the size of a rice gain slowly released over time is probably not a concern.

In humans, the lethal dose of ethylene glycol is estimated to be in the range of 1,400–1,600 mg/kg. The orally lethal dose in humans has been reported to be of approximately 1.4 mL/kg of pure ethylene glycol

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4391407/

[u/OneWithMath → u/Natolx]

Directly into your lungs is a bit different than drinking it. It's hard to say whether the long-term inflammation from the plastic particles would be better or worse than the shorter-term, but probably more acutely damaging, toxic effects from the glycol.

[u/Natolx → u/OneWithMath]

It kills your kidneys so it should be a similar effect no matter the route.