A staggering amount of microplastics have been found in babies' poop, according to a new pilot study. And unfortunately, with this being one of the first generations studied to show the bits of plastic not only in infants' feces but in newborns' meconium and the placenta as well, there is no telling what this means for the smallest members of society as they age.

Researchers from New York University have discovered as a result of sifting through babies' diapers that they have 36,000 nanograms of polyethylene terephthalate per gram of feces, according to Wired. This is 10 times more than what is found in adult feces.

The study, which was published in the journal, Environmental Science & Technology Letters found that after sifting through the diapers of six one-year-old babies, three newborns, and collecting 10 stool samples from adults, all from the New York area, all participants had polyethylene terephthalate in their poop. However, with babies have exponentially more than adults, this is of concern given that their size is smaller, making the concentration of polyethylene terephthalate that much greater in their little bodies.

RELATED: Microplastics Found In The Placentas Of Unborn Babies

To make sure that the diapers' microplastics were not being counted in the overall tally, researchers did not include the plastic that is the makeup of diapers in the count, per the study.

Polyethylene terephthalate or polyester is used to make many different, commonly used items. While it was first developed in the 1940s by DuPont, it was not discovered that polyethylene terephthalate could be melted and stretched in the 1950s, according to PETRA. That eventually led to the first plastic bottle being made in the 1970s.

As a result of this technology, everything from bottles, carpet, clothing, rope, construction materials, and more are made from polyethylene terephthalate, per the publication. This includes plastic baby bottles and sippy cups as well.

The thought from researchers as to why babies have so much more polyethylene terephthalate in their system than adults do is that they are constantly putting things in their mouths as a way of exploring the world around them. As such, not only are they drinking from a plastic baby bottle or water cup, they are also playing with toys that are going in their mouths. That is not all, however.

According to the New York Post, with things such as carpet and flooring that babies crawl on and then put their hands in their mouths, they transfer microplastics into their mouths, according to the study. Their food storage containers, utensils, drinking cups, and bottles are plastic. There truly are very few items in babies' lives that do not revolve around plastic or polyester in some form, all of which contribute to the high levels of polyethylene terephthalate found in their poop.

Since it was discovered that microplastics can be harmful to human health a couple of decades ago, steps have been made to eliminate baby products made from microplastics such as BPAs from the market. However, given that it is a slow-moving process, thus far, the Food and Drug Administration has only revised its stance on bottles and sippy cups.

What this means, according to Facts About BPA is that these products no longer are constructed using any BPA in the makeup of the plastic. This does not mean that other microplastics are not being shed from the bottles or sippy cups when liquid is consumed. And given that things like breastmilk and formula are put into plastic containers when warm, and this speeds up the process in which microplastics are shed, it is easy to see why there is so much exposure to newborns and babies when it comes to microplastics.

It is not yet known what it means for babies to have this enormous amount of polyethylene terephthalate in their bodies. Because they are being found in the stool, that means that microplastics are in the gut. If the gut is absorbing the chemicals that makeup microplastics, this could mean that those chemicals are being transferred throughout the body through major organs and even the brain, per Wired. And if this is the case, the cognitive function could be inhibited.

Because of these findings, researchers have sounded the alarm to find out what concentrations of microplastics are in the body and what particular chemicals in the microplastics are found to be detrimental to overall health. Only then will it become clear as to what this study truly means and how polyethylene terephthalate is affecting the tiniest members of society.

Source: Wired, Environmental Science & Technology Letters, New York Post, Facts About BPA, PETRA