Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Do just one thing

This week, “Do Just One Thing” has tips to help reduce microplastic consumption. Here’s a tip: Stop using glitter. Glitter is what’s known as an “intentional” microplastic: It’s literally designed to be microscopic and has no purpose outside of decorating.…

Researchers make disturbing discovery after testing air around everyday construction materials: 'The impacts ... are significant'

Since its invention, plastic has become a growing part of human life and infrastructure.  But one expert — with research revealing how microplastics could be contributing to human health issues — explained the construction industry needs to take some responsibility.  What's happening? Professor Joanne Kwan, a senior research manager and sustainable land reuse lead at the Construction Industry Research and Information Association, told PBC Today …

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

In a small study of eight cats at early stages of pregnancy, researchers detected 19 different kinds of microplastic particles in fetuses from two cats and in the placentas of three cats. Ilaria Ferraboschi of the University of Parma, Italy, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS One.

In the not-so-distant past, more precisely in the 20th century, the creation of fully synthetic plastic -made from petroleum- revolutionized the way we make almost everything we use on a daily basis. But this had serious consequences for nature, because plastic has the capacity to last for decades and decades without decomposing. Therefore, it accumulates in the oceans and forests, polluting ecosystems. Read more (04/04/2025)

Everything has gone very fast since, 20 years ago, marine biologist Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth, UK, coined the term for the first time after finding on the beach particles much smaller than a grain of rice. We did not take long to discover that these microplastics are everywhere: in the water we drink, in the food we ingest and even in the air we breathe. Initially, the hypothesis was that we took them through food or drink b…

Every year millions of tons of plastic fragments are poured into the natural environment, a pollution that has spread all over the planet. But, according to Sinc, with more than 7,000 published studies, scientists still do not know precisely and are investigating what are the concrete effects of