Is there plastic in your poop? No, not yours right? The truth is unless you live in some remote area in a glass bubble, you have been eating plastic, and therefore, you have plastic in your poop.
Last year a pilot study was conducted to see if, and how much, plastic was present in human poop. The study was led by Philipp Schwable, a gastroenterologist. After a global gastroenterology conference, a small test group was selected. The test group consisted of 8 subjects from 8 different countries. Each subject was asked to keep a food and drink log for a week prior to the sampling. No vegetarians or vegans were in this study.
The test itself was designed to test for ten different types of plastic. The test was able to detect plastic particles that were 20 microns or larger. A human skin cell is about 20 microns in size. Upcoming studies will have the capability to detect plastic particles just 1 micron wide.
The findings surprised Dr. Schwable. Every single subject tested positive for plastic in their poop and they were able to find 9 out the 10 plastics that they were screening for. On average, 20 particles of plastic were found per quarter pound of poop. Some of the plastics found were: polyethylene, commonly used in plastic bags; polypropylene, commonly found in bottle caps; and PVC, which is common material for pipes.
Most participants had drunk from plastic bottles and eaten seafood in the week prior, according to their food and drink logs. Recent studies have discovered plastic particles in seafood, wildlife, tap water, bottled water, and salt.
Want to read more about this sh!tty study? Click here.
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