That's assuming you could somehow stop new microplastic from entering the body
I mean, there is the argument that if they bioaccumulate in the blood, it's worth removing periodically even if it doesn't stop new intake
No because you're making blood from nutrients with microplastics mixed in. That's how it would hypothetically accumulate there in the first place. If it were being filtered out of the blood by another organ then I could see a case for scraping/removal but if it's the blood then it's coming directly from your food and drink and will be the same ratio even after bloodletting and/or regeneration.
Let's say you keep dripping slightly muddy water into a bucket. Over time, the mud will settle and accumulate in the bucket, while the clearer water will overflow. Now suppose you cut a slit at the base of the bucket. Now the mud will flow out through it and the water in the bucket will become less muddy, even though new muddy water is still dripping in. Here the bucket is your bloodstream, the slightly muddy water is your food, and the mud is microplastic.
Blood doesn't work like that, as it is constantly moving and being replaced. It is not a bucket.
The problem is that things like microplastics cannot be removed easily. (This is called bioaccumulation.) But if you bleed and lose some blood, the new blood will take time to accumulate.
Microplastic leeches.
Just donate blood. Skip the infection risk.
I'm not donating my blood plastic for free!
Oh great, now I have to worry about DuPont and Dow coming to repo my blood.
I’ve got an idea for an opera…
New money making idea: plasma centers that filter microplastics.
They won't take my blood.
Welp, better make an appt with the leech doctor then
i mean, as part of my job, i routinely take area hospitals medical grade leeches. it's not like they ever stopped being used by doctors.
Why would you use a leech instead of a needle or something? What are they for
Not OP, but apparently they're useful for when you want a continuous, slow drain of blood. The ones they breed for hospitals don't carry disease, so you can just kinda plonk it onto the spot that you want blood out of, and replace it when it gets full
Wait until you find out what they still use maggots for...
It's less about the blood they suck out and more about their saliva. It's a natural anticoagulant.
Amputation sites I think? The suction attracts blood flow to the area and supports healing/retention of blood vessels... I think. Neither one of us clearly can be bothered googling but that's what I recall...
google makes things too easy. great thinks were thunked back in the day where people had nothing but their own minds to consult.
And bad thunks are thinked just as much now as then. Truly the worst of times
For skin grafts after burns; the leeches' saliva has anticoagulants that helps blood flow through the microvasculature (tiny blood vessels) of the area. This helps promote growth of new blood vessels, as well as improve the health of the current blood vessels in the area.
TLDR: Helps tiny blood vessels in skin grafts (and other procedures), reduces failure of said skin grafts
If anybody's wondering if there aren't more modern medicines and treatments...
Yes, but leeches are cheap and does the job just fine
Makes me genuinely wonder.. I've donated blood for like 15 times now -- does that make my current blood less saturated with microplastics than if I hadn't?
No, because you eat and drink more microplastics to replenish yourself.
Donate 100% of blood, then fast. You'll be microplastic free for the rest of your life!
Live a little will ya.
Keep your blood, eat plastics raw, turn yourself into a 3D printer.
I'm already a 3D printer. I'm not very accurate, and my extrusion width is limited, but my flow rate is pretty good.
I was thinking that a kidney dialysis machine might be able to filter out that stuff from your blood. I think the way those work is your blood goes out a tube into the machine and it filters it before sending it back to you. So you'd need filters in there that are fine enough to catch the microplastics.
I don't think any filtering happens in dialysis, unwanted stuff just diffuses to another solution
Correct. If there are actually micro plastics in your blood, the plastic is likely relatively small compared to a blood cell. Otherwise we would be witnessing a lot more issues with stroke/heart attacks. Any kind of filter small enough to filter out something that small would also filter out blood cells.
Probably not. Unless they build up in the body somewhere, the amount of microplastics in your blood is determined by how many you consume via inhaled dust, food, and drink compared with how many you flush put via urine and/or fecal material.
If they do build up in the body somewhere, it probably isn't the blood, because blood is already filtered regularly.
Microplastics are the only guaranteed source of your daily dose of Vitamin P, as recommended by nobody and discouraged by the FDA.
Fake News: The FDA would never protect you from petrochem.
Good thing I only listen to the FDB
This is why we donate blood.
This would be a powerful Red Cross ad.
Lower your microplastics count. Donate blood so you can make more.
Can anybody tell me why this is a bad idea
The food you consume to produce the blood also has micro plastic. Nothing changes.
Yeah buts it's fresh micro plastic and not this stall stuff I've had in me for years.
Therefore it's got new fresh chemicals to "leech" out into your blood again.
That should depend on how the chemicals accumulate though. If all the plastic ends up in your blood and never gets naturally filtered out, it could make sense. Maybe it builds up in your fat/muscles instead though, or gets filtered over time and the amount in your system is the same as the amount in what you have recently eaten, idk
It's random internet advice?
And 4Chan, which is the worst form of internet advice.
It isn't. Blood donation reduces PFASs and iron buildup (too much iron in the blood is bad). And leeches are used in certain procedures, although I haven't heard of them being used to remove microplastics (yet).
Microplastic might be good for us for all we know, in still going to avoid them but it's something to think about we don't have any real idea of what the effect of them is.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00650-3
No, we know. There are a lot more...
We have some very limited ideas from correlation and limited lab testing that allows us to say easy things like putting junk in vital veins is bad (the nature article) but that's only a fraction of the types of microplastic and possible interactions - we know almost nothing about most of what's happening.
And to be clear I said they might be good for us as hyperbole, it's of course possible but what's far more likely is a myriad of long lasting health effects causing serious damage in obscure and complex ways.
In a century they might be saying 'those plastic brain gen alpha caused so many problems' just as how it's common to hear people talk about lead brain boomers... or maybe 'wow crazy micro plastic gave us superpowers, that was lucky'
Can it help my credit score?
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