{"id":3845,"date":"2024-04-26T05:02:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T05:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetryofscience.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=3845"},"modified":"2024-04-26T05:02:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T05:02:51","slug":"plastic-flesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/thepoetryofscience\/3845\/plastic-flesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic Flesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Particles, like stars
\ntoo distant for our skies,
\npermeate the flesh \u2013
\nsilent
\nas falling snow.
\nWe stand
\nunaware
\nof the siege within,
\nwhile sweat
\nthat great traitor
\ngreases their path
\nand ushers in
\nthe voiceless throng.
\nThe world shrinks
\nas it expands,
\nborders blurred
\nby the smallest
\nshards.
\nWithin this vessel,
\nwe drift
\nthrough the debris
\nof progress,
\nthe toll
\nof ease \u2013
\nlegacies traced
\nalong the dusty
\npathways of
\nour burdened veins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This poem is inspired by recent research<\/a>, which has found that toxic chemicals from microplastics can be absorbed through skin.<\/p>\n

There’s growing concern about tiny plastic particles, known as microplastics, that are everywhere in our environment, from the deepest oceans to the air we breathe. But one overlooked area is how these plastics might be affecting us through our skin, especially when these particles carry harmful chemical additives.<\/p>\n

Recent research has broken new ground by using advanced skin models to study how chemicals from microplastics can enter the human body. This research revealed that certain toxic chemicals, specifically known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), could pass through the skin and into the bloodstream. Factors like the type of plastic and whether the skin is sweaty can affect how much of these chemicals get absorbed. This discovery is crucial because it shows that touching microplastics could be another way \u2013 aside from eating or breathing them in \u2013 that these pollutants get into our bodies, potentially impacting our health. This study is a first step towards understanding the unseen risks that microplastics may pose to our wellbeing.<\/p>\n