Scientists have discovered organ defects in embryos due to nanoplastics

Scientists from the Netherlands Institute of Biology Leiden studied the effect of high concentrations of microplastics on the development of embryos, writes “High tech”.

For research, they took chicken embryos.

The researchers exposed the embryos to an extreme concentration of polystyrene nanoparticles. They observed how injected plastic particles with a diameter of about 25 nm, labeled with a special fluorescent label, crossed the intestinal wall and circulated between the organs of the embryos.

It turned out that nanoplastic cells attach to embryonic neural crest cells and destroy them.

It is noted that these stem cells are formed in all vertebrates at the earliest stages of development. Neural crest cells form where the spinal cord will later be located. They migrate, creating different parts of the nervous system. and participate in the formation of other organs, among which are the arteries and the heart.

Exposure to a high concentration of nanoplastics disrupts the normal migration of these cells and the embryo develops malformations of the heart, nervous system, eyes, and other parts of the head.

Study co-author Meiru Wang noted that the scientists “used high concentrations of polystyrene particles that are not normally found in the body.” But the study showed “what nanoplastics can do in extreme cases with very young embryos” as well as “what can happen in less severe cases during the developmental stage” of fetuses.