Plasticolo

Beyond exposure to marine and continental ecosystems, humans are potentially exposed to plastics through skin contact, inhalation, and food (Rahman, Sarkar et al. 2020). Evidence for human ingestion of microplastics comes from two studies: microplastics were detected in all human stool samples tested in Schwabl, Köppel et al. 2019, Zhang, Li et al. 2021.

There is ample evidence that ingestion of certain microplastics results in dysbiosis and intestinal dysfunction in several, primarily aquatic, animals. Recent data suggest that these toxic effects on the microbiota and intestinal epithelium may also reach mammals in response to ingestion of certain types of microplastics (Hirt and Body-Malapel 2020) (Li, Ding et al. 2020)).

Thus, there is an urgent need for an ambitious study on the effects of microplastics on gut health, with both environmental and human relevance.