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Microplastics Could Be Weakening Your Bones, Research Suggests
The review of more than 60 scientific articles showed that microplastics, among other effects, can stimulate the formation of osteoclasts, cells specialized in degrading bone tissue.
The study also found that, in relation to bones, plastic particles can reduce the viability of cells, induce premature cellular aging, modify gene expression, and trigger inflammatory responses. “In this study, the adverse effects observed culminated, worryingly, in the interruption of the animals’ skeletal growth,” said coauthor Rodrigo Bueno de Oliveira in a press release. Therefore, one of our goals is to generate evidence suggesting that microplastics could be a potential controllable environmental cause to explain, for example, the increase in the projected number of bone fractures,” Oliveira said.
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