A New England Journal of Medicine analysis provides quantitative evidence of microplastic harm. Among 257 cardiovascular patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, those with detectable microplastics in arterial plaques demonstrated a hazard ratio of 4.53 (95% CI 2.00–10.27, p<0.001) for composite outcomes including myocardial infarction, stroke, or death.
Microplastics were identified in 58.4% of atherosclerotic plaques analyzed, with mean tissue concentrations of 21.7 micrograms per milligram. The prospective cohort design, spanning 33.7 months of patient follow-up across 304 enrolled subjects in Italy, strengthens causal inference. This quantifiable risk metric transforms microplastic exposure from a theoretical concern into measurable clinical pathology, enabling healthcare providers and policymakers to assess population-level cardiovascular vulnerability to environmental plastic contamination.
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