“Waiter, there are fragments of synthetic polymers in my soup” does not have quite the ring to it as the old joke about the unappetising fly.
Research presented at an American Society for Nutrition conference in Orlando, Florida, that ended this week suggests that food and drink are much more likely to harbour harmful plastics than toxic bugs.
“Microscopic plastic particles found in food and beverages may affect glucose metabolism and harm organs such as the liver,” according to scientists at the University of California, Davis, who warned that despite “ubiquitous exposure” to microplastics and nanoplastics, the health implications have yet not been “fully elucidated”.
“Our observations that oral ingestion of polystyrene nanoplastics contributes to glucose intolerance and signs of liver injury, confirm…