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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Plastic bottles floating in the ocean. A straw caught inside a sea turtle's nose. The stomach contents of fish and whales filled with plastic waste. The problem of forever plastics isn't something new. But it might surprise you to learn that the same plastic that has become so pervasive in our environment and the food we eat, is now also part of us. Plastic has been found in the tissues of brain, of lungs, of fat, of the placenta, and now the blood vessels. And it is making us sick. A study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine and co-authored by a Cleveland doctor has found evidence of plastic in the plaques removed from the arteries of patients with atherosclerosis. And what's more, the plastic seems to be contributing to their cardiovascular disease. The study looked at more than 300 patients who had blockages removed from their carotid arteries - the large artery in the neck carrying blood from the heart to the brain. Normally, the contents of the plaques creating the blockages are discarded, but the researchers in the study decided to see what they were made of. When the contents of the blockages were analyzed, the researchers found polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene, two familiar chemicals used in plastics, in more than half of the samples. But what they found was more than just the chemical signature of the plastic, they could see it too. Using a high resolutions electron microscope to create images of the debris, the pictures 'revealed visible, jagged-edged foreign particles' of - you guessed it - plastic, the authors wrote. Several previous studies have shown that microplastics and nanoplastics, often referred to as MNPs, enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin exposure, where they interact with tissues and organs. However, this is the first time that science has shown that these plastics get into the plaques of arteries and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke said Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, chief of cardiovascular medicine at University Hospitals Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute and one of the paper's authors. "The question is what is it doing there? Does it play a role in inflammation? Some people believe that this could drive inflammation within plaques and this could be one of the reasons why you have heart attacks and stroke," said Rajagopalan. "To think that the plastic in your arteries is giving you a stroke? That's pretty concerning." The study found that those patients whose plaques contained plastics were four-fold more likely to have heart attacks or stroke than patients whose plaques did not show evidence of plastics. Rajagopalan says that there are a lot of caveats to the study, and cautions that it wasn't a very large, carefully done prospective clinical trial. "There are a lot of biases to the study and I'll be the first to tell you to take this with a huge grain of salt," Rajagopalan said. "But the fact is, finding plastics in your arteries should sort of be a wakeup call." The study only looked at blockages of the carotid artery in the neck, he said, but added he wouldn't be surprised if the next paper shows them in the coronary arteries of the heart as well. It's simply everywhere, and there's no way to avoid it. Related: As an example, he cites a paper published in January in the journal PNAS, showing that plastic water bottles, and plastic food containers continuously shed extremely tiny bits of plastic that we consume along with the food and beverages inside them. Those researchers found that water bottles contain 10 to 100 times more plastic than previously estimated, and that most of it is small enough to make its way into our bodies-- and stay there. But it's not the presence of the plastic that concerns Rajagopalan, rather the harm it's causing, and how we can ultimately combat it. "What might these things be doing in your body?" said Rajagopalan . "That's what the research really needs to focus on." If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.