Microplasty in your food is contributing to the following two health issues: Study

You know that microplastics are appearing in your extract containers and your dump food.

But fresh alarming research shows that they are present in almost everything you consume – and the effects of these small particles are from the distant teenager.

A new study in mice suggests that the microplasty found in food and drink can interfere with blood sugar levels and damage the liver.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that animals that consumed polystyrene nanoplasty-plastic used in food packaging-developed glucose intolerance and signs of liver damage, two serious health issues that may have long-term consequences.

Findings – which were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Food on Sunday – raise red flags for what can make it invisible plastic for the human body.

“With the growing concern about micro and nanoplastic exposure, we wanted to appreciate the impact of this exposure to health,” said lead author Amy Parkhs, a doctoral candidate at UC Davis, in a press release.

Parkhs and its team fed mice a standard diet prominent with a daily dose of polystyrene nanoparticles, imitating the way people are exposed through food and drinks.

The dose was chosen to reflect the real-world human exposures-which can range from tens of thousands to millions of particles a year, according to previous estimates.

Compared to their plastic-free peers, mice eating nanoplasty had problems regulating blood sugar-a condition known as glucose intolerance, which can be a warning sign for diabetes.

Plastic dose rats also had higher levels of a liver enzyme called Alt-a common marker for liver damage.

Moreover, the study found that plastic made the intestine more “leakage”, allowing harmful substances to enter the bloodstream and potentially stress the liver even more.

As the findings come from mice, not humans, they add a growing cluster of research that raises questions about microplastics – which are now found everywhere from bottled water to seafood – can affect our health.

“We cannot check for all the plastics whose rats are exposed,” pointed out parkhs, “however, our study model allowed us to see interconnected dose changes as the group dosed by nanoplasty would have a higher exposure.”

Parkhurst stressed that more research is needed to understand how these particles affect humans and whether they pose similar risks for the long run.

However, the message is clear: what is too small to see may not be too small to hurt.