The study, which included some 300 people with atherosclerosis, also found that they had tiny plastic particles (microplastics and nanoplastics) encrusted in plaques in the carotid artery, a major blood vessel in the neck that supplies blood to the brain.

“Patients with plastic plaques were more than four times more likely to have a myocardial infarction or a stroke or to die from any cause within three years,” the report noted.

According to the experts, when plaque builds up in the arteries, known as atherosclerosis, the thickening of the vessel walls reduces the blood flow to parts of the body, increasing the risk of a stroke, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.

Such plaques are usually a mixture of cholesterol, fatty substances, cellular debris, calcium and a blood-clotting protein called fibrin or fibrinogen.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic no larger than five millimeters and are formed when larger plastics decompose through chemical degradation processes or physical wear and tear.

jg/jav/mem/cdg