A tablespoon of plastic may be present in the typical human brain, according to research

Matthew Campen, co-lead study author and Regents' Professor and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, stated that the total number of small plastic fragments in cadaver brain samples was seven to thirty times greater than that of the kidneys and liver. The amounts we observed in the brain tissue of healthy people, who were on average 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 microgrammes per gramme, or 0.48% by weight, according to Campen. That's the equivalent of a whole regular plastic spoon, according to Campen.

It is around 50% greater than autopsy brain samples from 2016, he stated. "That would imply that 99.5% of our brains are made of plastic today." However, it's likely that the way plastics are now measured has overestimated or underestimated their amounts in the body, according to Campen: "We're working hard to get to a very precise estimate, which should I think we will have within the next year

Additionally, researchers discovered that the brains of 12 individuals who had been diagnosed with dementia before to their deaths had three to five times as many shard-like plastic particles than brains from healthy individuals. Smaller than what the human eye can see, such fragments were concentrated in the brain's immune cells and the walls of its arteries and veins. "It's a little concerning, but keep in mind that dementia is a condition in which the blood-brain barrier and clearance processes are compromised," Campen stated.

Furthermore, dementia is associated with inflammatory cells and brain tissue atrophy, which could act as "a sort of sink for plastics to go," he said. "At this time, we do not propose that microplastics may be the cause of dementia, but we want to be very cautious in interpreting these results as the microplastics are very likely elevated because of the disease," Campen stated. Phoebe Stapleton, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, stated that the absence of plastic deposits in the brain does not necessarily indicate that they are harmful .

She stated, "It is unclear whether these particles are fluid in life, entering and exiting the brain, or if they accumulate in neurological tissues and promote disease." "More investigation is required to determine whether there are any toxicological repercussions from the particles' possible interactions with the cells."According to Campen, scientists did observe indications that the kidneys and liver could be able to remove some plastics from the body. He stated it's unclear if that can occur in the brain.

Today's discovery of greater concentrations of microplastics in human tissues "makes sense" given the sharp rise in plastic production, pollution, and human exposure to plastics, according to paediatrician and biology professor Dr. Philip Landrigan, who is the director of Boston College's Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good and the Global Observatory on Planetary Health.

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A global group of scientists, medical professionals, and policy analysts tasked with tracking plastics from production to final product, the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health, published a report in March 2023, of which Landrigan is the principal author. According to the consortium's 2023 report, plastics are linked to negative health effects at every stage of their lifespan. According to Landrigan, research has discovered these plastics in the human heart, gastrointestinal tract, liver, lungs, testes, placenta, and large blood vessels.

Nanoplastics have the ability to invade individual cells and tissues in key organs, disturbing cellular functions and depositing compounds that affect hormones, including bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants, heavy metals, and per- and polyfluorinated substances, or PFAS. According to the Endocrine Society, endocrine disruptors impact the human reproductive system, resulting in female infertility, a decrease in sperm count, and genital and reproductive deformities.

“We are still a long way from knowing the full extent of that harm, but we have some pretty good indications that microplastics and nanoplastics cause harm,” Landrigan said. "We have enough information here, in my opinion, to begin taking preventative measures." CNN was informed by the American Chemistry Council, an industry body. According to the FDA, there is currently insufficient scientific data to conclude that food-borne microplastics or nanoplastics are harmful to human health.

According to Kimberly Wise White, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the council, ongoing research attempts to enhance instruments for measuring the toxicity of microplastics to humans in addition to filling in existing data gaps in our knowledge of exposure to microplastics. "The complexity of microplastics, the numerous factors that can impact human health, and the unvalidated methods frequently used by researchers that can produce inaccurate or misleading results make this work crucial," she said.

Brain, kidney, and liver tissues taken from patients who had forensic autopsies between 2016 and 2024 were analysed for the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. The brains of those who passed away between 1997 and 2013 were also examined by researchers for comparison. The frontal cortex, the part of the brain linked to thought and reasoning, was the site of the collection of brain tissue samples. Later stages of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) most commonly damage this area of the brain.

The size of microplastic particles can vary from less than 0.2 inches (5 millimetres), which is roughly the size of a pencil eraser, to 1 nanometre. Approximately 80,000 nanometres is the width of a human hair strand, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Nanoplastics, which must be measured in billionths of a metre, are anything smaller. Our findings suggest that the brain is attracting even the tiniest nanostructures, which are between 100 and 200 nanometres long. The director of the New Mexico Centre for Metals in Biology and Medicine, Campen, commented, "These are about the size of two COVID viruses side by side." According to scientists, the most concerning plastics for human health are nanoplastics since the tiny particles can absorb.

According to Campen, "these nanoplastics somehow manage to get past the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain." "As plastics are attracted to fats, or lipids, one theory is that they are stealing our dietary fats and delivering them to the organs that prefer lipids the most, the brain foremost among them." The brain has significantly more fat than any other organ, making up around 60% of its weight. The strength and functionality of brain cells depend on essential fatty acids, like omega-3s. They must be obtained through diet or supplements because the human body is unable to manufacture necessary fatty acids on its own.

The primary method that individuals are exposed to micro- and nanoplastics is through their diet, but some can also be inhaled: "When people drive down the highway and their tires are abrading on the highway surface, a certain amount of microplastic particles are thrown into the air," said Landrigan. Wave activity can send some of the ocean's microplastic particles into the air if you live close to the coast, he said. Therefore, inhalation is also a significant route, even if ingestion is most likely the predominant one.