Chances are you have heard about microplastics pollution. What you may not know is that researchers recently discovered that your brain might have a spoonful of the substance in it.
“These results highlight a critical need to better understand the routes of exposure, uptake and clearance pathways and potential health consequences of plastics in human tissues, particularly in the brain,” said authors of the study, published Monday in the Nature Medicine journal. This research comes after a study published last spring in the Environment Health Perspectives journal that indicated plastics are finding their way into the human brain through the things we consume.
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According to USA Today, the 7 grams worth of microplastics found in the average brain as of last year by the researchers is equal to about a spoonful. Microplastics were also found in human kidneys and livers.
Researchers applied a new approach called pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to samples, along with visualization methods, to assess the relative distribution of both microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in human organs.
“We obtained de-identified, postmortem human liver (right central parenchyma), kidney (wedge piece containing cortex and medulla) and brain (frontal cortex) samples, retrospectively from 2016 and 2024 autopsy specimens in cooperation with and approval from the University of New Mexico (UNM) Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico (NM), under the guidance of a trained forensic pathologist (D.F.G.) who selected consistent regions from all organs,” the study authors explained.
Rising concentrations of microplastics in the environment have become a global concern in recent years. Per the United Nations, the world produces 400 million tons of plastic waste annually. This includes waste from the 1 million plastic water bottles purchased every minute and 5 million plastic trash bags used every year. In 2023, Audacy reported on how even recycling efforts often fell short or even exacerbated microplastics pollution, highlighting the severity of the issue.
Compared to the samples from 2016, liver and brain samples from 2024 had significantly higher concentrations of MNPs, the new study revealed. Polyethylene – a synthetic resin made from the polymerization of ethylene used to make products such as clear food wrap – was the most common MNP found in the liver, brain and kidneys. Brain tissue “harbored higher proportions of polyethylene compared to the composition of the plastics in liver or kidney,” said the researchers. In brains with documented dementia diagnoses, a greater accumulation of MNPs was observed.
“The present data suggest a trend of increasing MNP concentrations in the brain and liver,” the study said. Still, the researchers said that these “data are associative and do not establish a causal role for such particles affecting health.”
Going forward, they said that refinements to the analytical techniques, more complex study designs and much larger cohorts are needed to determine further links between microplastics and health.
“Given the exponentially rising environmental presence of MNPs these data compel a much larger effort to understand whether MNPs have a role in neurological disorders or other human health effects,” said the researchers.
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