14 hours ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Microplastics from biodegradable material may be linked to diabetes, study finds
Microplastics from a widely used biodegradable material can enter the metabolic cycle of bacteria and cells in the gut after being ingested, a new study has found.
Researchers in China and the United States said the microplastics – from polylactic acid – were found to alter the gut metabolism and damage the gut barrier of mice.
They said this could potentially contribute to conditions like
inflammatory bowel disease and
diabetes
'This is the first time in the world that microplastics have been found to enter the body's metabolic cycle,' the study's corresponding author Cui Xuejing, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, said on Friday.
In their paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on May 5, the team wrote: 'Biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) plastics have been praised as an effective solution to the global pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics.
'Their widespread use in food packaging and disposable tableware has resulted in increased oral exposure to PLA microplastics'.
