A study led by Dr. Pasquale Paolisso at Sant’Andrea Hospital of Rome’s Sapienza University found higher levels of microplastic and nanoplastic particles in the blood of heart attack patients than in healthy people and other heart disease patients. Published recently in the European Heart Journal, the research examined samples from arteries supplying blood to the heart in 61 participants.

The group included people who had experienced heart attacks, people with chronic heart disease but no heart attack, and people whose arteries showed no signs of disease. Microplastic and nanoplastic particles were detected in 84 percent of heart attack patients, compared with 40 percent of chronic heart disease patients and 32 percent of participants with healthy arteries.

Researchers said smoking and regular exposure to air pollution may significantly increase the risk of higher blood microplastic levels. Senior author Dr. Emanuele Barbato said the findings do not establish that microplastics directly cause heart attacks, but indicate a strong relationship among environmental pollution, blood microplastics and heart disease. An editorial commentator described plastic pollution as a potentially underestimated cardiovascular risk.