Patients diagnosed with lung cancer demonstrated a higher prevalence and greater total burden of microplastics in their lungs compared to individuals without cancer.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Elevated Particle Burden: Patients diagnosed with lung cancer demonstrated a higher prevalence and greater total burden of microplastics in their lungs compared to individuals without cancer.
- Regional Distribution Variations: Analysis revealed an inverse distribution between bronchial washings and lung tissue samples within the same individuals, suggesting microplastics deposit and retain unevenly throughout pulmonary structures.
- Environmental Health Implications: The findings highlight the need for further clinical research into whether inhaled polymers such as polypropylene and polyethylene promote pulmonary inflammation or if diseased tissue retains foreign particles differently.
People diagnosed with lung cancer are more likely to have microplastics in their lungs and harbor larger quantities of the particles than individuals without cancer, according to research presented at ERS 2026.
The study evaluated 100 patients undergoing bronchoscopy to investigate pulmonary symptoms at University Hospital of Larissa in Thessaly, Greece. During each bronchoscopy, clinicians collected lung-wash samples using saline solution, and researchers obtained lung tissue biopsies from 50 of the participants. Following testing, 50 patients were diagnosed with lung cancer, while the remaining 50 did not have cancer.
“Microplastics have become an unavoidable part of our environment, but we still know remarkably little about what happens once they enter the human body,” said Dr Ilias Dimeas, researcher at University College Dublin School of Medicine and the University of Thessaly. “We don’t yet know what the background levels of microplastics in the lungs are, how much they vary from person to person, or whether they contribute to disease. If we are breathing these particles in every day, we need to understand where they end up and whether they could be linked to disease.”
Elevated Microplastic Burden in Cancer Patients
Across all patient specimens, investigators identified 232 microplastic particles, with 70% of patients exhibiting detectable microplastics in at least one sample. When evaluating lung wash and tissue samples together, cancer patients demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of microplastic detection and a higher overall particle burden than those without cancer.
In lung-wash specimens specifically, microplastics were detected in 66% of lung cancer patients compared to 46% of patients without lung cancer, according to the researchers.
Investigators also observed that individuals with higher microplastic concentrations in their lung-wash fluid tended to show lower amounts in tissue samples, and vice versa. Because wash samples collect loose particles from the airspaces while tissue samples capture particles embedded within the lung parenchyma, the authors noted that microplastics may distribute unevenly across respiratory regions.
Polypropylene and polyethylene, both widely manufactured for packaging, textiles, household goods, and consumer products, emerged as the most common polymers identified in the samples.
Investigating Pulmonary Mechanisms
“Our results suggest that inhaled microplastics can be found in the human lung more frequently than many people may realise,” said Dimeas. “This adds to the growing evidence that reducing environmental plastic pollution may have benefits that extend beyond ecosystems and into human health.”
Dimeas emphasized that the observational nature of the study does not define a direct causal relationship between microplastics and malignancy.
“Microplastics could contribute to inflammation or other biological processes that may contribute to diseases like cancer, but it is also possible that diseased lungs simply retain particles differently than healthy lungs,” said Dimeas. “What it does show is that microplastics were found more often and in greater numbers in patients with lung cancer, which raises important questions for future research. We have already begun more laboratory experiments to better understand the types of plastics involved and how they may interact with lung cells.”
Dimeas and his research team are currently evaluating specimens from patients with chronic lung diseases to examine whether microplastic accumulation contributes to lung scarring and chronic disease progression, according to the release.
Broader Healthcare and Environmental Implications
“Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. It’s also the leading cause of cancer deaths, with around 2.5 million cases and 1.8 million deaths annually,” said Prof Barbara Hoffmann, chair of the European Respiratory Society’s Advocacy Council at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. “Smoking remains by far the biggest cause of lung cancer. Air pollution is now also known to cause lung cancer and contribute to many other lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD.”
Hoffmann, who was not involved in the research, emphasized that protecting respiratory healthcare requires addressing modern airborne contaminants.
“Research on the health effects of microplastics is still at a very early stage, but we are starting to realise that these tiny pieces of plastic are infiltrating many parts of the body,” said Hoffmann. “This study adds to evidence that we are breathing microplastics in via the air and they are lodging in our lungs. We need more research to fully understand their potential role in lung diseases, including cancer. In the meantime, we advocate for the fundamental human right to breathe clean air, and this includes air that is not polluted with microplastics.”
