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Infants are especially vulnerable to chemical pollutants and researchers say more tests are urgently needed to understand the impact. Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than 5mm in length.

The minute man-made pieces were seen in samples taken from 34 healthy mothers a week after they had given birth in Rome.

Microplastics were detected in 75 per cent of them.

Dr Valentina Notarstefano, who led the study at the Universita Politecnica delle Marche, in Italy, said: “It will be crucial to assess ways to reduce exposure to these contaminants during pregnancy and lactation.

But it must be stressed that the advantages of breastfeeding are much greater than the disadvantages caused by the presence of polluting microplastics.

“Studies like ours must… raise public awareness to pressure politicians to promote laws that reduce pollution.”

The research, published in the journal Polymers, found microplastics composed of polyethylene, PVC and polypropylene – all found in packaging.

An Italian team previously identified microplastics in human placentas in 2020.

Other recent research revealed bottle-fed babies are likely to be swallowing millions of microplastics a day and that cow’s milk can contain microplastics.

A Dutch team from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands found microplastics in human blood earlier this year.

The study’s lead author Prof Dick Vethaak said the Italians’ findings must be urgently followed by “more studies with a higher number of samples” to confirm the “preliminary evidence”.

He said: “We see only the tip of the iceberg with microplastics. Smaller nano-sized plastics are likely more prevalent and toxic.”

He added: “There is an urgent need for more studies because early life stages, newborns, and young children seem more susceptible to chemical and particle exposure.”

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