Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events
Marfella R, Prattichizzo F, Sardu C, et al. (2024). New England Journal of Medicine.
What they found
Polyethylene was detected in carotid artery plaque from 150 of 257 patients (58.4%) having surgery, and PVC in 31 (12.1%). Over about 34 months, patients with plastic in their plaque had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke or death from any cause (hazard ratio 4.53; 95% CI 2.00–10.27).
Read this too
Pyrolysis-GC/MS measurement of polyethylene and PVC in fatty biological tissue has been challenged (Rauert et al. 2025; Monikh et al. 2025), which applies to plaque as well. NEJM published reader correspondence on the study (May 2024, doi 10.1056/NEJMc2404154).
- Sample
- 304 patients enrolled, 257 followed for a mean 33.7 months
- What it can't tell you
- Observational: shows association, not causation. Patients with and without detectable plastic may have differed in other ways, so residual confounding is possible. Single-country surgical cohort. Relies partly on pyrolysis-GC/MS, whose polyethylene and PVC readings in tissue have since been questioned. Lab contamination controls have been debated.
- Funding
- Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (Italy) and others, per the abstract; Europe PMC also lists NIEHS/NIH and the Italian Ministry of Health
- Topics
- In the body, Health effects
- Checked against
- Abstract (Europe PMC, PMID 38446676, PMC11009876); Crossref shows no corrections