NBCNews.com: Scientists Found Tiny Nanoplastics in People’s Arteries; Their Presence Was Tied to a Higher Risk of Heart Disease

NBCNews.com recently interviewed Martha Gulati, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, about a study that found a potential link between heart disease and tiny plastic fragments accumulating in the body due to environmental pollution.

Microplastics and smaller nanoplastics can be absorbed through the skin, inhaled or ingested through contaminated air, food or water. In the study, the particles were found to be associated with a nearly five times greater risk of heart attack, stroke or death in patients who had a buildup of plaque (fatty deposits) in their carotid arteries. These blood vessels carry blood to the brain, face and neck.

Gulati, who was not involved in the study, told NBCNews.com that questions still remain about the relationship between microplastics, nanoplastics and cardiovascular disease.

“We know that cardiovascular disease, particularly myocardial infarction [heart attack], is usually triggered by an inflammatory response,” said Gulati, who holds the Anita Dann Friedman Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research.

But, she added, “is the inflammation due to the nanoplastics or something else?”

Gulati told NBCNews.com that additional research could lead to more answers.

“This paper might provoke people to figure out if we can measure micro- and nanoplastics in the general population and then examine who goes on to develop cardiac events,” Gulati said. “I hope that this study, and more work that it triggers, helps us address our environment and cardiovascular health because I feel like this is something that really needs to be discussed … It gets very little attention.”

Click here to read the complete article on NBCNews.com.