Polyethylene, the world's most common plastic, may be driving fatty liver disease
A plastic once thought harmless may be fueling fatty liver disease
Polyethylene makes up roughly a third of global plastic production, yet its effect on the liver had gone largely unstudied. Researchers at Texas A&M found that exposure to polyethylene microplastics raised markers of fatty liver disease even without a poor diet, and worsened damage when combined with a Western-style diet. Using spatial transcriptomics, they traced the changes to PPAR-alpha and ANXA2, pinpointing where in the liver the harm occurs.
No studies have really looked into polyethylene's effect on liver health, and it's the most widely produced plastic. What we now know is that these microplastics, especially polyethylene, affect our liver's natural defense and repair mechanisms.
- kurthr
Wow, that was hard to read. I'm not usually a big micro-plastics guy, but when I am, I read the primary sources.
- ktallett
I have no clue why we considered plastic so harmless when it simply wasn't ever possible to do a long term study on things. Now whilst is unrealistic to remove it entirely, it's very easy to reduce plastic use significantly in many areas, especially groceries and toiletries yet we choose not to make that very minor effort.
- bushbaba
What does this mean for Pex and other plastic water mains?