Tiny plastic fragments that have been ingested by humans are suspected to be a potential cause of the rapidly increasing threat of superbugs.
Research has shown that the accumulation of these tiny plastics – fragments that break away from items including shopping bags and food packaging – has been associated with heart disease, dementia, and various types of cancers.
As these plastics can take approximately five centuries to fully decompose, they leave behind microplastic residues that persist in the environment, traceable across the food chain and even human consumption of drinking water, which consequently accumulate within the human body.
Scientists have found a connection between the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections.
These super-resistant bacteria, which have developed the ability to withstand even the most effective antibiotics, are often believed to have originated from doctors overusing powerful antibiotics.
Environmental experts now think that microplastics are widespread in the environment where bacteria begin their lives, and that this presence is driving mutated, increasingly resistant bacteria leading to drug-resistant infections.
Researchers have found that microplastics significantly accelerate the dispersal of deadly bacteria by an estimated 200 times.
The inability to address these microplastics poses a threat to the lives of millions.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately ten million people are expected to pass away annually by 2050, primarily due to the rising prevalence of superbugs.
Dr. Timothy Walsh, a renowned microbiologist with over 25 years of experience in the field and author of the study from the University of Oxford, noted: "Considering the absence of a unified global system for managing plastic waste and the rising presence of microplastics in various aspects of human life, these discoveries are truly disconcerting."
'At the individual level, we need to reduce, reuse, and recycle, whereas at the global level, we must establish strong governance policies to manage plastic waste effectively.'
Last year, the UK Government released a plan to "contain, control and mitigate" the spread of drug-resistant infections. The document, however, does not have a section pertaining to microplastics.
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