Microplasty may be creating superbugs with antibiotic resistance

Talk about a shock of culture.

Microplastics – small particles coming from large plastic items and industrial waste – can damage cells and disrupt organs, potentially increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, infertility and other chronic conditions.

Researchers from the University of Boston say there is another weakness for these ubiquitous pieces – bacteria exposed to them can become resistant to some types of antibiotics.

Americans are believed to absorb and consume tens of thousands of microplastic particles a year. A recent study found a spoon in the brains of people because they are everywhere in the environment.

“The fact that there is microplastics around us, and even more so in the poor countries where sewers can be limited is a wonderful part of this observation,” said Muhammad Zaman, a Boston University professor of biomedical engineering, who studies the antimicrobial resistance and health of refugees and migrants.

“Certainly there is a concern that this may pose a higher risk in communities that are disadvantaged,” continued Zaman, “and only underlines the need for more vigilance and a deeper overview in [microplastic and bacterial] interactions ”.

Antimicrobial resistance is quite common – about 4.95 million estimated deaths occur every year worldwide due to these infections.

Zaman blames the abuse and excessive use of antibiotics, as well as the near surroundings of the germ, where bacteria and viruses are repeated.

His team studied how the usual E. coli bacteria reacted to a closed microplastic environment.

Attached bacteria and colonized plastic, as they do on any surface, creating a thin, complex layer called a biofilm. Biophilms protect bacteria from environmental stressors, antibiotics and immune responses.

Biophilms in the microplastic turned out to be stronger and thicker than those observed in other materials, such as glass. The degree of antibiotic resistance in microplastics was also much higher.

“We are demonstrating that the presence of plastic is doing much more than providing a surface for bacteria to climb – they are actually leading to the development of resistant organisms,” Zaman said.

Most plastic repeats water and other fluids – they are hydrophobic due to their molecular structure.

Zaman’s team speculated that plastic eventually takes moisture and can absorb antibiotics before reaching the bacteria they are trying to aim.

The findings were published on Tuesday in the applied magazine and environmental microbiology.

Researchers plan to distinguish accurate mechanisms that allow bacteria to have such a strong control in plastic and study the appearance of bacteria and viruses resistant to microplasty -related antibiotics in refugee camps.

The team noted that refugees, asylum seekers and forced displaced populations are particularly susceptible to drug -resistant infections. About 122 million people have been forcibly displaced around the world.