The sea breeze, magical evenings, blissful rains — living near the ocean is almost as perfect as a dream. But all that serenity may come at the cost of your health. A recent study found that people living near the ocean have an increased risk of certain diseases.
A study published in the
Journal of the American Heart Association has found that residents of the US coastal counties may face a significantly higher risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke.
Ocean and cardiometabolic disease risk
The researchers found that the risk of heart and metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and
stroke, is higher in people living near the ocean water, due to the higher concentrations of microplastics. They also found that the risk was low in residents of coastal counties with low levels of microplastic pollution in nearby waters.
“This is one of the first large-scale studies to suggest that living near waters heavily polluted with microplastics may be linked to chronic health conditions. Plastic pollution is not just an environmental issue – it may also be a public health issue,” Sarju Ganatra, M.D., senior author, vice chair of research at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, and president of Sustain Health Solutions, said in a statement.
What are microplastics
Microplastics are plastic particles that are less than 5 millimeters (mm) in size, which is about the size of a pencil eraser. For better visualization, know that human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide. There are also microplastics, which are even smaller, invisible to the naked eye, and measuring smaller than one-thousandth of a millimeter. They are known as nanoplastics. Both of these are formed from the chemical breakdown, aka decomposition, of larger plastic waste, including food packaging (like single-use water bottles), synthetic fabrics, and personal care products. These microplastics and nanoplastics were found in drinking water, seafood, and the air.
The findings
According to the study, seawater intrusion, which is a natural process where seawater mixes with groundwater, is reported extensively in coastal areas and results in high concentrations of contaminants, including microplastics, in groundwater aquifers.
The researchers found that the concentration of plastic particles in ocean water near coastal communities was associated with a higher incidence of Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke among residents in those counties. They also investigated the concentration of the micro plastics within 200 nautical miles of the counties, and dividing the pollution levels into four categories based on mean marine microplastic levels (MML)
- low pollution (0–0.005 pieces/m³): almost nothing visible — maybe one tiny plastic speck in 200 bathtubs of ocean water;
- medium pollution (0.005–1 pieces/m³): up to 1 small plastic particle per 200 bathtubs of ocean water;
- high pollution (1–10 pieces/m³): likely to be a small handful of small plastic bits floating in each bathtub of ocean water; and
- very high pollution (10+ pieces/m³) every scoop of ocean water (about the size of a bathtub) could contain 10 or more plastic particles.
The researchers found that people living in counties with very high levels of microplastic pollution had 18% higher adjusted prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, which is known to double the risk of heart disease. They also had a 7% higher for coronary artery disease, a plaque buildup in the heart’s arteries that may lead to a heart attack or stroke. The study also revealed a 9% increase in incidences of strokes. A stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain gets blocked or bursts. Strokes are the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability.
They also found that the Gulf of Mexico (also known as the Gulf of America) and Atlantic coasts had a higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke compared to those on the Pacific coast.
“While this study measured pollution in ocean water, pollution isn’t limited to the sea. Microplastics are everywhere: in drinking water, in the food we eat, especially seafood, and even in the air we breathe. So, while we examined data from microplastics collected from ocean water and the health status of people living in communities nearby, microplastic pollution affects all of us, regardless of where we live. Ironically, even in health care – a field devoted to healing – we rely heavily on single-use plastics, from IV bags and syringes to gloves, tubing, medication blister packs and surgical drapes. Much of it ends up in landfills or the ocean, where it fragments into microplastics and enters the ecosystem,” Ganatra added.
“This study adds to a growing body of evidence that the garbage we discard into the environment often finds its way back to us. It’s time to shift from awareness to action. We urge policymakers to view plastic pollution as an environmental crisis as well as a potential health crisis,” he added.
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