Talk about a culture shock.
Microplastics — tiny particles that come from large plastic items and industrial waste — can damage cells and disrupt organs, potentially increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, infertility and other chronic conditions.
Researchers from Boston University say there’s another downside to these ubiquitous shards — bacteria exposed to them can become resistant to several types of antibiotics.
Americans are believed to inhale and ingest tens of thousands of microplastic particles a year. One recent study found a spoonful of them in people’s brains because they are everywhere in the environment.
“The fact that there are microplastics all around us, and even more so in impoverished places where sanitation may be limited, is a striking part of this observation,” said Muhammad Zaman, a Boston University professor of biomedical engineering who studies antimicrobial resistance and refugee and migrant health.
“There is certainly a concern that this could present a higher risk in communities that are disadvantaged,” Zaman continued, “and only underscores the need for more vigilance and a deeper insight into [microplastic and bacterial] interactions.”
Antimicrobial resistance is quite common — an estimated 4.95 million deaths occur each year worldwide due to these infections.
Zaman blames the misuse and overuse of antibiotics as well as the immediate surroundings of the microbe, where bacteria and viruses replicate.
His team studied how the common bacteria E. coli reacted in a closed environment with microplastics.
The bacteria attached to and colonized the plastics, as they do to any surface, creating a slimy, complex coating called a biofilm. Biofilms protect bacteria from environmental stressors, antibiotics and immune responses.
The biofilms on microplastics turned out to be stronger and thicker than those observed on other materials, like glass. The rate of antibiotic resistance on the microplastics was also much higher.
“We’re demonstrating that the presence of plastics is doing a whole lot more than just providing a surface for the bacteria to stick — they are actually leading to the development of resistant organisms,” Zaman said.
Most plastics repel water and other liquids — they are hydrophobic due to their molecular structure.
Zaman’s team speculated that plastics eventually take in moisture and may absorb antibiotics before they reach the bacteria they are trying to target.
The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
The researchers plan to discern the exact mechanisms that allow bacteria to have such a strong grip on plastic and study the occurrence of microplastic-related antibiotic-resistant bacteria and viruses in refugee camps.
The team noted that refugees, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced populations are particularly susceptible to drug-resistant infections. An estimated 122 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide.
