Can Plasma Exchange Be Used to Lower the Circulating Burden of Microplastics in Human Patients?

Microplastic particles (MP) from industrial products and degradation of plastic waste are ubiquitous in our environment and convey serious potential risks to human health. There is currently no established method for removing MP from the human body. MP circulate in the blood and have been found in the eluate plasma from double filtration plasmapheresis procedures, suggesting that plasmapheresis could be used to remove MP from the body. We have measured circulating MP in the blood of 114 patients before and after 174 1-plasma-volume therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) procedures using the Spectra Optia Apheresis System and have shown that circulating MP are reduced by TPE. The reduction is obscured at low starting levels of MP because of leaching of MP back into the circulation from the plastic apheresis tubing set. Nonetheless, this is the first demonstration that it is possible to reduce circulating MP in human patients.