Two new studies find tiny pieces of plastic, or microplastics, in stool and table salt samples from across the globe. What does this mean for our…

In vitro studies have shown the effects of microplastics on cells. A recent study in Germany found that microplastic particles can destabilize lipid membranes — the barriers that surround all cells — which may affect their functioning. Another study found that microplastics had many effects on cells, including cell death.

For this study, the researchers looked for particles that could be absorbed across membranes in the human body. They filtered the blood to collect any plastic particles between 700 nanometers(nm) and 500,000nm. To avoid any plastic contamination, the researchers used glass fiber filters.

To meet anticipated strong demand for the machines in the Americas and elsewhere, the Wintec plant in China is undergoing a significant expansion. By the end of 2019, production space will more than double and the number of employees will increase by more than 60%, said Engel.

“Human biomonitoring methods for measuring plastics additives have been available for several years […] But measuring microplastics, especially at the small size that would likely circulate in blood vessels (<7 microns), is very hard,” Prof. Galloway told Medical News Today.

The researchers suggest several ways the plastics may have entered the bloodstream — via air, food, water, personal care products such as toothpaste and lip gloss, dental polymers, and tattoo ink residues. What happens to the microplastics once they enter the bloodstream is unclear.

The hydraulic machines are well established in the Asia/Pacific markets, said Engel, where they are typically used to mold large automotive components and products for the white goods industry. The company introduced the all-electric e-win series in 2017.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Wintec (Changzhou, China), fully owned by Engel, (Schwertberg, Austria), is exhibiting its hydraulic and electric molding machines at NPE2018. The show officially launches the machines’ availability in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

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The samples from the filters were processed by double-shot pyrolysis to produce chromatograms from which scientists could identify the contents.

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“The fact that just about everyone has microplastic in their blood isn’t so surprising when you consider that just about everyone has plastics additives in their bodies.”

In a new study published in the journal Environment International, researchers in the Netherlands developed a method of analyzing human blood to detect microplastics. They then used this method to analyze blood from 22 healthy volunteers.

Many people are too familiar with distressing images of turtles and dolphins trapped in plastic bags or fishing nets. But there is a less visible effect — microplastics, tiny plastic particles formed when plastics break down and during commercial product manufacturing.

“It’s highly probable given the prevalence of microplastics in air, water, wildlife, the food chain, that they will also be entering the human body, but the technical difficulties of measuring microplastic particles in the human body has made it hard to confirm this.”

Several studies have found evidence of plastics in the human body. One revelation came after scientists detected plastic additives such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates in human urine. Researchers have also found microplastics in human feces. However, until now, no published study has directly examined the effect of these tiny plastic specks on human health.

Microplastics are specks of plastic. By definition, they are less than 5mm in any dimension, but many are invisible to the naked eye. There are two types of microplastics: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. The former are the particles used in some cosmetics, and the latter comes from the breakdown products of larger plastic items.

Developed in Europe, the machines are built in Changzhou, China, under the same strict standards as all Engel machines and robots.

Targeting no frills, general purpose injection molding applications, Engel (Schwertberg, Austria) has brought its made-in-China Wintec machines to the U.S. market for the first time. The company exhibited the hydraulic t-win and all-electric e-win machines at booth W3303 at NPE2018.

Stressing that Wintec is 100%-owned by Engel, Engleder said that the motivation in bringing these machines to the Americas is to provide plastics processors with an “Engel-quality” energy efficient, reliable, durable and compact machine.

Much concern about microplastics has previously focused on their effect on the marine environment, as they are found in oceans worldwide. Many marine organisms, such as fish and shellfish, have been found to contain microplastics.

However, they believe that “[i]t is scientifically plausible that plastic particles may be transported to organs via the bloodstream.”

A new report highlights how widespread ocean pollution contributes to increasing health risks in human populations all over the world.

The researchers found PET — which most drinks bottles are made from — in the blood of more than half of those tested. They did not detect PP in any of the samples.

Plastics are everywhere. Although, in theory, much of it can be recycled, a lot of it ends up in landfills, or worse, in watercourses and marine ecosystems.

There is strong demand for standard injection molding machines without all the bells and whistles but that still deliver the quality and reliability for which Engel is known, said group CEO Stefan Engleder during a press conference today at NPE2018. Wintec machines were designed with this in mind and, as a result, have become quite popular in Asia/Pacific markets. Certain models are now also available for delivery in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

Wintec machines are suited for high-volume, single-component injection molding that may not require any special technologies but where quality and process consistency remain important.

“This paper is good news because it describes a method that is sensitive enough to do this in blood samples and combines size fractionation and mass measurements,” she added.