Tiny Plastic Fragments DRIVING Deadly Superbug Crisis, Warn Experts

United States: Tiny plastic particles may be to blame for the emergence of a dangerous new generation of infections inside our bodies, leading to the rise of deadly superbugs.

More about the news

Science studies have established that these microplastics – minute particles that chip off from items, including shopping bags and food trays – are connected with heart ailments, dementia, and several forms of cancer.

Because plastic can take up to 500 years to biodegrade, these microplastics are present in the environment – from the food chain and drinking water to our bodies.

Now, researchers at the University of Oxford have said that they are a consequence of drug-resistant infections’ emergence and dissemination.

About these superbugs

These superbugs are known to have the natural, almost unbeatable, talents of resisting common antibiotics, and doctors are believed to be compounding it by prescribing the drugs frequently, Dailymail reported.

It is the accumulation of microplastics in the environment in which the bacteria are born, which experts are convinced is to blame for the mutation that makes the diseases more resistant to drugs.

Plastic pollution linked to rise of killer superbugs, Oxford scientists discover https://t.co/njsx9CLDCS

— Sabine K. (@sabinefilm) January 19, 2025

Research reveals that microplastics are making the transmission of killer superbugs even worse by up to 200 times.

But if these microplastics are not addressed, millions stand to die, warn the experts.

What more are the experts stating?

The World Health Organisation has predicted that the death rate of such superbugs could be ten million people per year by 2050 due to the new and increased number of superbug strains.

According to Professor Timothy Walsh, with more than twenty-five years of experience in the area, author of the study and a microbiologist at the University of Oxford, “Given the lack of global plastic waste governance and the increasing amount of microplastics infiltrating all aspects of human activity, these findings are very concerning,” DailyMail reported.

Rise in superbugs blamed on one thing – and there's no getting away from them https://t.co/9SPMIICAxX pic.twitter.com/4EQpDMbv9x

— Daily Star (@dailystar) January 20, 2025

“At the individual level, we need to reduce, recycle, and reuse – at the global level, we need robust plastic waste governance policies,” Walsh added.

Furthermore, last year, the UK government published its strategy to “contain, control and mitigate’ the spread of drug-resistant infections.”