Page 38 - Plastic News Issue August 2025

ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Simon added: “The path forward won’t be easy
but it’s time to prioritise the key points where
we can align globally and deliver a treaty that
INDOOR AIR CONTAINS THOUSANDS OF
MICROPLASTICS SMALL ENOUGH TO PENETRATE DEEP
INTO OUR LUNGS, STUDY FINDS
housands of microplastics so small they
can penetrate deep into the lungs are in
Tthe air you breathe in your home and car,
a new study has found.
The particles are likely the result of the degrada-
tion of plastic-filled objects such as carpet, cur-
tains, furniture and textiles and the plastic parts
of car interiors, according to the study published
Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.
“People spend an average of 90% of their time
indoors, including homes, workplaces, shops,
transportation … all the while they are exposed
to microplastic pollution through inhalation with-
out even thinking about it,” senior study author
Jeroen Sonke and lead author Nadiia Yakovenko
said in a joint statement.
“Microplastics in the air, especially indoors, may
be an invisible threat we are only beginning to
understand.”
Sonke is a research director at the National Cen-
tre for Scientific Research, which is affliated with
France’s University of Toulouse. Yakovenko is a
postdoctoral researcher of environmental geo-
sciences at the university.
38 PLASTICS NEWS
will protect the health of people and our planet,
well into the future.”
Source - https://ecoplasticsinpackaging.com
“While research is still ongoing, there is con-
cern that long-term exposure to microplastics
and their additives may contribute to respira-
tory problems, disrupt endocrine function and
increase risk for neurodevelopmental disorders,
reproductive birth defects, infertility, cardiovas-
cular disease, and cancers,” the two said.
The study found adults may inhale some 68,000
microplastic particles of 1 to 10 micrometers per
day from indoor air — an estimate that is 100
times more than expected, according to Sonke
and his team.
In comparison, a red blood cell is 6.2 to 8.2 mi-
crometers, while E. coli bacteria may be 1 to 2
micrometers long.
“This adds to the body of knowledge we have
that microplastics are everywhere and getting
into humans in every way imaginable,” said mi-
croplastics researcher Sherri “Sam” Mason, di-
rector of Project NePTWNE at Gannon Univer-
sity in Erie, Pennsylvania, via email. She was
not involved in the study. (NepTWNE is short
for Nano & Polymer Technology for Water and
Neural-networks.)
Scientists have detected microplastics in human
August 2025