Microplastics Hailed as Public Health Breakthrough

Research scientists at several major universities published studies this week demonstrating how microplastics enhance human cell resilience to viral and bacterial invasion. Summaries of these papers indicate that certain microplastics embed themselves into cell walls making those cells impervious to attack from viruses and bacteria.

Officials with the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Washington DC noted that these studies are changing the entire way we look at communicable disease prevention. More work is needed on which types of microplastics are best suited for preventing viral and bacterial invasion. Current studies, although not definitive, indicate that microparticles of polyethylene terephthalate or PETE, the plastic used to make plastic water bottles, may be best suited for cellular absorption and incorporation into cell walls.  How best to incorporate PETE into our diets is still to be determined other than through environmental absorption. For the cell walls to contain sufficient microplastic material to be structurally integrated into cell walls and fend off bacteria and viruses will require more than that normally absorbed from the environment.

The investigations were prompted when it was discovered that employees of a plastic bottle manufacturing facility in Youngstown, Ohio used far fewer sick days than the rest of the surrounding population.  During the height of the Covid pandemic before vaccines were available, these same employees did not get infected with Covid. Subsequent analysis indicates that the cells in their respiratory systems were structurally able to prevent Covid infection. The virus simply could not penetrate the plastic reinforced cell walls.  As expected, the concentration of microplastics circulating in the manufacturing plant was significantly higher than that found in the general environment.

The findings are having an immediate and dramatic effect on consumer spending. As word spread of the benefits of microplastics via social media, companies similar to Tupperware, which only last year declared bankruptcy, are now overwhelmed with new orders as consumers switch from glass back to plastic food storage containers.

Additional research funded by the NIH is expected to offer specific dietary microplastic recommendations by mid-2024.