Heart Health
Microplastics in arteries linked to heart disease risk
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Concerns about the health effects of microplastics continue to mount. Now, a new study finds that people with microplastics in the plaque clogging their neck arteries were far more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people with plastic-free plaque.
When researchers tested the plaque removed from the neck arteries of 257 people, they found tiny particles of plastic — mostly polyethylene but also polyvinyl chloride — in 58% of the people. After nearly three years, the rate of heart attack, stroke, and death was 4.5 times higher in people with microplastics in their plaque than those without.
These observational findings can't pinpoint microplastics as the culprit, as other unmeasured exposures or habits may be to blame, says the authors, whose study was published in the March 7, 2024, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Used to make plastic bags and bottles, polyethylene slowly breaks down and is found in food and water, which may explain how microplastics enter the body.
Image: © Alistair Berg /Getty Images
About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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