Microplastics, Nanoplastics and the Heart: Emerging Human Data Link Environmental Particles to Cardiovascular Risk

Highlight

– Multiple prospective human studies report detectable microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in coronary blood, cardiopulmonary-bypass (CPB)–exposed blood, and carotid atheromas.
– MNP presence correlates with local and systemic inflammatory markers and with higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in observational cohorts.
– Findings are biologically plausible given preclinical evidence but are subject to potential contamination, methodological heterogeneity, and residual confounding; causality remains unproven.

Study background and disease burden