‘No test can decide if arteries have pollutants’

As science looks deeper into how tiny plastic pollutants affect the human body, top doctors are working to understand what this means for heart and vessel health. Dr RC Sreekumar, president of the Vascular Society of India and chairman and head of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at PRAN Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, tells Unnikrishnan S about where the science currently stands.

How can microplastics get into arteries and blood vessels?

They can enter the body mainly through food, drinking water, and inhaled air. After entering the digestive or respiratory system, they can cross biological barriers and reach the bloodstream. From the bloodstream, they may interact with the endothelial lining of blood vessels.

Do microplastics in arteries increase heart-attack or stroke risk?

Possibly, but this has not been definitively proven as a direct causal link. More studies are needed, but logically it is possible. If particles become entrapped in an atherosclerotic plaque, they can lead to inflammation and plaque rupture.

Can a blood test or scan measure how much plastic is inside arteries?

Currently, no — not as a routine clinical diagnostic test. There is no standard hospital blood test, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, or PET scan that can tell a doctor that a patient’s arteries have microplastics. Researchers can detect plastics in blood and surgically removed vascular tissue using sophisticated analytical laboratory techniques, such as electron microscopy. These are primarily specialised research techniques, not routine diagnostic tests.

Can the body remove microplastics from an artery?

We do not know yet, and clearance rates probably depend strongly on particle size, polymer type, and anatomical location. The human body possesses robust physiological mechanisms for clearing foreign particulate matter. Some particles may be phagocytosed by immune cells and transported through the lymphatic system, filtered by the kidneys, eliminated via the gastrointestinal tract, or sequestered by the reticuloendothelial system.

Does plastic inside blood vessels affect healing after vascular surgery?

We don’t currently have evidence, though there are theoretical reasons to be concerned. After vascular surgery, the vessel undergoes a healing process. Cellular evidence suggests that micro- and nanoplastics can alter inflammatory signalling, promoting inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction, which could interfere with normal vascular healing.