According to a study conducted at Rutgers, nanoscale plastic particles, similar to those commonly found in food and water, can transfer from pregnant rats to their fetuses and potentially impact fetal development. The study suggests that this process may also occur in humans.
“Much remains unknown, but this is certainly cause for concern and follow-up study,” said Philip Demokritou, the Henry Rutgers Chair and professor in nanoscience and environmental bioengineering at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
Erosion causes microscopic plastic particles to break away from the billions of tons of plastics in the environment that are exposed to the elements. These particles mix with our food and air, with an average person ingesting the equivalent amount as a credit card each week, according to Demokritou.
Previous studies in pregnant laboratory animals have found adding these plastics to food impairs their offspring in numerous ways, but those studies didn’t determine whether mothers passed the plastics to their children in utero.