A placenta (commonly known as the “afterbirth” or “ʻiewe” in Hawaiian) is a temporary organ which connects the mother to the fetus via the umbilical cord.
A placenta (commonly known as the “afterbirth” or “ʻiewe” in Hawaiian) is a temporary organ which connects the mother to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Its purpose is to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the fetus while serving as a barrier to prevent infections or viruses from entering the developing fetus.
A new study by researchers at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children examined placentas donated by women who delivered in Hawaiʻi from 2006 to 2021, and found the presence of microplastic particles in the placenta.
Microplastics are visible to the naked eye, and examples can range from the plastic beads once found in exfoliating soaps, to particles from disintegrating plastic bags, to bits of plastic found in microwavable containers which are then inadvertently consumed by humans.
“We were shocked that these little pieces of plastic were getting across the mom’s gut and landing in the placenta,” said Men Jean Lee, an obstetrician and researcher at JABSOM and Kapiʻolani Medical Center. Lee, Rodrigo Weingrill and Johann Urschitz from UH Mānoa’s Institute for Biogenesis Research co-authored the research recently published in Environment International.
Read more at University of Hawaii at Manoa
