Science & Tech

Study finds that average human eats five grams of plastic a week

Study finds that average human eats five grams of plastic a week
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Prepare to be disgusted because humans eat about five grams of small plastic particles every week.

The plastic particles, which amount to the weight of an average credit card, make their way into your bodies from packaging waste found in sea salt, seafood and even drinking water, scientists at the Medical University of Vienna explained.

And the journal Exposure & Health warn these can make changes in the gastrointestinal tract which are linked to metabolic diseases like obesity, diabetes and chronic liver disease so it isn't exactly great.

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Can you avoid it? Maybe not. Drinking the recommended amount of water through plastic bottles alone will introduce 90,000 plastic particles per year into your body, according to a study referenced in the review.

But those who drink the same amount of water from the tap ingest about 40,000 plastic particles each year.

According to the study, the health effects of plastic “may be irreversible” putting future generations at risk.

Delicious.

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