Microplastics โLinked to Bone Weakness & Increased โFracture Risk, New Research Suggests
Campinas,โ Brazil -โ Emerging research from the State University of Campinas (FCM-Unicamp) indicates that microplastic exposure โmay negatively impact bone health, perhaps contributing to the rising global incidence of osteoporosis and fractures. The study, led byโฃ RODRIGO BUENO DE OLIVEIRA, Coordinator of the Laboratory for Mineral and Boneโค Study in Nephrology (Lemon) at FCM-Unicamp, reveals that microplastics accumulate within bone tissue – even โฃreaching the bone marrow – and disrupt โฃcrucial cellular processes.
According to Oliveira, microplasticsโ accelerate cell aging and alter cell โขdifferentiation, while also promoting inflammation. Animal studiesโ have demonstrated that accelerated senescence of โosteoclasts – cells responsibleโข for bone breakdown – can lead to impairedโ bone microstructure, dysplasia, โขweakening, deformities, and an increased risk ofโ pathological fractures, ultimately halting skeletal growth inโ testedโ animals.
“Most impressive is that a significant set of studies suggests that microplastics can reach the intimacy of โขbone tissue, such as bone marrow, and potentially causing various disturbances in โฃits metabolism,” Oliveira stated.
Researchers areโ now launching a new project โฃto directly investigate the link between microplastic โexposure andโ theโ progression of metabolic bone diseases, โfocusing on the impact โฃof microplastics on โthe โคresistanceโฃ of rodent femurs. This research comes as the International Osteoporosis Foundationโ (IOF) projects a 32% increase โฃin osteoporosis fractures globally by 2050,driven largely by population aging.
“Improving quality of life and reducing the risk of bone complications, such as fractures, is aโค priority in health,” Oliveira explained.โฃ “Evidence in the direction that microplastics could be a potential environmental cause, controllable, to explain, such as, the increased projection โขof bone fractures.”
The findings โare detailed in the โขrecently published review article, Effects of microplastics โขon the bones: a comprehensive review, available at: โ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-025-07580-4.