Plastic has been found in human faeces for the first time. A study has found an average of 20 pieces of microplastic per 10 grams of stools. Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 milimetres in diameter formed by plastic breaking down, typically in the ocean where plastic debris most commonly ends up. Dr. Philipp Schwabl, lead researcher of the team from Medical University of Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria, said the findings confirmed what has long been suspected—that discarded plastics ultimately reach the human gut. The smallest microplastic particles are capable of entering the blood stream, lymphatic system and may even reach the liver, he said. They revealed that polypropylene, which is used to make food packaging, and polyethylene terephthalate, the material that makes plastic bottles, are the most commonly found types of plastic in the faeces samples. The research emerges a few days after study by Incheon University and Greenpeace East Asia found that over 90 per cent of sampled salt brands globally contained microplastics, with the highest amounts recorded in salt brands in Asia. “Recent studies have found plastics in seafood, and tap water, and now in salt. It’s clear that there is no escape from this plastics crisis, especially as it continues to leak into our waterways and oceans,” said Mikyoung Kim, campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia.

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