{"id":69110,"date":"2025-02-05T06:08:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T06:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/the-human-brain-may-contain-as-much-as-a-spoons-worth-of-microplastics-new-research-suggests\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T06:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T06:08:37","slug":"the-human-brain-may-contain-as-much-as-a-spoons-worth-of-microplastics-new-research-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=69110","title":{"rendered":"The Human Brain May Contain as Much as a Spoon’s Worth of Microplastics, New Research Suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Researchers found higher levels of microplastics in brain tissue than in liver and kidney tissue.
\n UNM Health<\/span>
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The human brain may contain up to a spoon\u2019s worth of tiny plastic shards\u2014not a spoonful, but the same weight (about seven grams) as a plastic spoon, according to new findings published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine<\/em><\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Researchers detected these \u201calmost unbelievable\u201d levels of microplastics and nanoplastics in the brains of human cadavers, says study co-author Andrew West<\/a>, a neuroscientist at Duke University, to Science<\/em> <\/em>News<\/em><\/a>\u2019 Laura Sanders. \u201cIn fact, I didn\u2019t believe it until I saw all the data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on their analysis, the amount of microplastics in the human brain appears to be increasing over time: Concentrations rose by roughly 50 percent between 2016 and 2024.<\/p>\n

The researchers also found much higher levels of microplastics in brain tissue than in liver and kidney tissue. And microplastic concentrations were also higher in the brains of deceased patients who had been diagnosed with dementia<\/a> compared to the brains of deceased individuals without dementia.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the study finds only a correlation between high levels of microplastics in the brain and dementia\u2014it does not establish a causal relationship. It could be, for instance, that changes resulting from dementia make it easier for microplastics to accumulate in the brain. However, the researchers say their findings are troubling nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have yet to encounter a single human being who says, \u2018There\u2019s a bunch of plastic in my brain and I\u2019m totally cool with that,\u2019\u201d says study co-author Matthew Campen<\/a>, a toxicologist at the University of New Mexico, in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Microplastics and nanoplastics are miniscule plastic fragments that result from the breakdown of everyday objects like packaging, containers, clothing, tires and more. These small particles have spread all over the planet, from Mount Everest<\/a> to deep in the Mariana Trench<\/a>. They\u2019ve also made their way into the human body, showing up in blood<\/a>, baby poop<\/a>, lungs<\/a> and placentas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In September 2024, these miniature pollutants were also discovered in the human olfactory bulb<\/a>, a type of brain tissue that sits above the nose in the forebrain. At the time, researchers weren\u2019t completely sure whether microplastics could migrate deeper into the brain.<\/p>\n

The new paper suggests they can. First, researchers analyzed brain, kidney and liver tissue from patients who had died in 2016 and 2024. For broader context, they also studied brain tissue from patients who had died between 1997 and 2013. Some of the brains came from patients who had been diagnosed with dementia.<\/p>\n

They found much higher levels of microplastics in the 2024 brain tissue, on average, than in the 2016 brain tissue, regardless of the patient\u2019s age, sex, race, ethnicity or cause of death. Their findings suggest microplastic levels in the brain have grown by roughly 50 percent over the last eight years. This increase makes sense in the context of plastic production, which doubles every 10 to 15 years, reports the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Shannon Osaka.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think [the increase] is simply mirroring the environmental buildup and exposure,\u201d Campen tells National Geographic<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Olivia Ferrari. \u201cPeople are being exposed to ever-increasing levels of micro and nanoplastics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microplastic levels were 7 to 30 times higher in the examined brain tissue than in the liver and kidney tissue.<\/p>\n

Microplastic concentrations were also three to five times higher in the brains of patients with dementia, compared to cognitively normal brains. It\u2019s not clear whether microplastics may cause or contribute to dementia, nor whether dementia-induced changes to the brain might allow more microplastics to enter.<\/p>\n

More broadly, the potential health consequences of microplastics remain largely unknown. Some recent research, however, suggests they are likely harmful to the human body. A study<\/a> published in March 2024, for example, found that patients with higher concentrations of microplastics in their arteries were at a higher risk of heart attacks, stroke and death.<\/p>\n

Now that microplastics have been found deep in the human brain, the next steps will be to explore what effects, if any, they are having on human health.<\/p>\n

Future studies might also investigate how microplastics and nanoplastics are making their way into the brain in the first place, a feat that remains a mystery. Researchers are also curious about the unusual shapes of the plastic particles they found in the brain: thin, sharp shards, rather than the smooth, bead-like shapes they had expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomehow, these nanoplastics hijack their way through the body and get to the brain, crossing the blood-brain barrier,\u201d Campen tells CNN<\/a>\u2019s Sandee LaMotte. \u201cPlastics love fats, or lipids, so one theory is that plastics are hijacking their way with the fats we eat, which are then delivered to the organs that really like lipids\u2014the brain is top among those.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the world might want to consider \u201cmitigation measures\u201d to help minimize microplastic exposure, says Emma Kasteel<\/a>, a neurotoxicologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands who was not involved with the paper, to National Geographic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know that much about the health effects, but the fact is that [microplastics] are [in the brain] and they shouldn\u2019t be there, and maybe that\u2019s worrying enough,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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