In a shocking revelation, scientists have discovered microplastics in human brain tissue, adding to the overwhelming evidence that these tiny particles have infiltrated virtually every part of the human body. The urgency of global action on plastic pollution is underscored in the findings laid out in a new study.
The research, not yet peer-reviewed but shared with the National Institutes of Health, found microplastics in all of the human cadavers’ livers, kidneys, and brains. Most disturbing was brain tissue that had concentrations of plastics up to 20 times more than any other tissue. The brains of individuals diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s had precipitously higher concentrations of plastic than those of their healthy peers.
“It’s pretty shocking,” said Matthew Campen, a toxicologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico, who led the study. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”
Such microparticles, defined as fragments smaller than a diameter of 5mm, are identified within human lungs and placentas, within reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee, and elbow joints, blood vessels, and bone marrow. Such omnipresent particles are everywhere, from the deep Mediterranean Sea to the high clouds over Mount Fuji, to the very air we breathe, water we drink, and food we eat.
The health implications of the presence of microplastics in the human body have not yet been revealed. However, from recent studies and new scientific evidence, they may increase the chances of oxidative stress, which generates cell damage and inflammation along with cardiovascular diseases. In other animal studies, microplastics are linked to fertility problems, all types of cancers, disruptions of the endocrine and immune systems, and also impaired learning and memory.
“In light of such findings on pathological evidence of health effects from animal and human lab cells,” added Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, “finding microplastics in more and more human organs raises a lot of concern. It’s scary, I’d say.”
The 2024 samples of brain tissue also had more microplastics in them, around 50% more, which showed that the concentration in human brains is on a trajectory along with the rising amounts of microplastics detected in the environment. “You can draw a line, it’s increasing over time,” said Campen. “It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment.”
To compound matters, a recently published study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found that microplastics were present in every one of the 16 samples of bone marrow examined. A separate study found microplastics in the membranous lining of every one of the 45 patients it examined in hip or knee joints needing surgery, within Beijing, China.
The deserve of humanity should be released from exposure to a high quantity of microplastics, and people can avoid it by not using plastic in processing food, especially microwaving, drinking tap water instead of bottled water, and ceasing accumulation of dust which is plastic-contaminated. Furthermore, some researchers recommend eating less meat and, in particular, processed one.
Much remains unknown about the human consequences of accumulation, says medical researcher Leonardo Trasande of New York University. “The human health effects of chemicals in plastics, for instance, phthalates, are certainly better established,” he said. A study he coauthored found exposure to phthalates raises America’s risk of cardiovascular disease and death, leading to large economic losses.
Yes, it is through this ongoing process that the United Nations Environment Assembly has decided to strive for a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Recent reports indicate that the Biden administration supports such a move to reduce global plastics production, which is essential in curtailing the issue, researchers said. “There’s nowhere left untouched from the deep sea to the atmosphere to the human brain,” Almroth said.