The entire digestive tract can be affected by the trapping of micro- and nanoparticles ingested with contaminated food. All the pathologies studied were of unknown etiology, such as Crohn's disease (whose patients are possible candidates for bowel cancer) and colon cancer or ulcerative rectal colitis.

Particulate material varying considerably in size, morphology and concentration was found in all the samples examined. Sometimes in the same small sample particles coexisted of different chemical composition. The chemical nature of the particulate matter found showed considerable diversity, since we detected both metals and ceramic materials. We also found noble metals like silver and gold.

In a case of Crohn's disease, particularly large debris of strip-shaped polymeric material was found. The presence of large debris attached to the mucous membrane represents both an irritative stimulus and a mechanical barrier to the passage of food compounds transformed at intestinal level and could be the explanation of some symptoms of this disease such as, for example, colon irritability, chronic intestinal inflammation and weight loss.

In a fair number of cases of tumors, we found very small particles (500 nanometers) of Fe-Cr-Ni, the typical composition of a stainless steel.