A 61-person Italian study found that patients actively experiencing a heart attack (STEMI) had strikingly higher levels of microplastics and nanoplastics in their blood compared to patients with stable coronary artery disease or healthy controls. STEMI patients showed detection rates of 84% versus roughly 31-40% in other groups, with median concentrations roughly four times higher. Polyethylene was the dominant plastic found, alongside PVC and other polymers. The microplastics also co-occurred with elevated inflammatory markers and greater pollution exposure. Researchers published the findings in the European Heart Journal, though they caution the study cannot prove microplastics cause heart attacks — only that a strong association exists between plastic particle burden and acute cardiovascular events.
