Microplastics can significantly affect bone health: new study

No bones about it — tiny shreds of plastic can cause big problems for health.

Microplastics are particles, smaller than a grain of rice, that are found in everything from the toothpaste we use to the clothes we wear and even the food we eat.

These minute shards that slough off larger plastic have been shown to harm reproductive, digestive and respiratory health, potentially leading to colon and lung cancer.

A new analysis out of Brazil suggests microplastics can have wide-ranging effects on our skeletons as well, perhaps leading to bone weakening, deformities and fractures.

“The potential impact of microplastics on bones is the subject of scientific studies and isn’t negligible,” said Rodrigo Bueno de Oliveira, coordinator of Brazil’s Laboratory for Mineral and Bone Studies in Nephrology.

“For example,” he added, “in vitro studies with bone tissue cells have shown that microplastics impair cell viability, accelerate cell aging and alter cell differentiation, in addition to promoting inflammation.”

This review of 62 scientific studies highlighted the effect on osteoclasts, special cells that break down old or damaged bone to make room for new bone tissue.

Microplastics can hasten the aging of osteoclasts, the researchers said, which can disrupt the natural cycle of bone renewal and weaken bones.

“Most strikingly, a significant body of research suggests that microplastics can reach deep into bone tissue, such as bone marrow, and potentially cause disturbances in its metabolism,” Oliveira said.

The findings were published recently in the journal Osteoporosis International.

The researchers plan to study the effects of microplastics on the strength of rodent femurs and see how these results can apply to humans.

The disease osteoporosis, which makes bones weak, brittle and more likely to fracture, is becoming more prevalent because of the aging population and increases in obesity, diabetes and inactive lifestyles.

“Although osteometabolic diseases are relatively well understood, there’s a gap in our knowledge regarding the influence of microplastics on the development of these diseases,” Oliveira said.

“Therefore, one of our goals is to generate evidence suggesting that microplastics could be a potential controllable environmental cause to explain, for example, the increase in the projected number of bone fractures.”

In the meantime, there are easy ways to reduce your microplastics exposure.

For starters, you can change your water bottle, avoid buying polyester clothing and filter your tap water.