Human brain samples contain a whole spoon worth of nanoplasty, the study says

Cnn
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Cognitively normal human brain samples collected by autopsy by the beginning of 2024 contained several small cuts of plastic than samples collected eight years before, according to a new study.

Generally, cadaver brain samples contained seven to 30 times more small cuts of plastic than their kidneys and lives, Co-Lead studio writer Matthew Campen, Regents’ professor and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque said.

“The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals who had an average age of about 45 or 50 years old were 4,800 micrograms per day. Grams or 0.48% in weight, ”the camp said.

That’s the equivalent of a whole standard plastic spoon, the camp said.

“Compared to autopsy brain tests from 2016, it is approx. 50% higher, ”he said. “That would mean that our brains today are 99.5% brain and the rest is plastic.”

However, it is possible that the current methods of measuring plastic may have over- or underestimated their levels in the body, the camp said: “We work hard to get to a very accurate estimate, which would I think we will have before For next year. ”

Researchers also found another three to five times with cutting -like plastic fragments in the brain of 12 people who had been diagnosed with dementia before their death compared to healthy brains. These cuts, smaller than the eye can see, were concentrated in the walls of arteries and brains of the brain as well as in the brain’s immune cells.

“It’s a bit alarming, but remember that dementia is a disease where the blood brain barrier and clearance mechanisms are reduced,” the camp said.

In addition, there are inflammatory cells and atrophy of brain tissue with dementia that can create “a kind of washing for plastic to go,” he said.

“We want us to be very careful about interpreting these results, as microplastics are very likely to be elevated due to the disease (dementia) and we do not currently suggest that microplastics can cause the disease,” the camp said.

Finding plastic deposits in the brain does not prove that they are causing damage, said Phoebe Stapleton, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. She was not involved in the new study.

“It is unclear whether these particles in life are fluid that go in and leave the brain, or whether they collect in neurological tissues and promote illness,” she said in an E email. “Further research is needed to understand how the particles can interact with the cells and whether this has a toxicological consequence.”

In fact, scientists saw signs that the body’s liver and kidneys may be able to flush some plastic from the body, the camp said. Whether it can happen in the brain, he said is unknown.

Finding higher levels of microplastics in human tissue today “makes sense” because plastic production, plastic pollution and human exposure to plastic has been I have been iNørre fastsaid pediatrician and biology professor Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program and the Common Good and Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College.

“More than half of all ever -ever -made plastics have been made since 2002, and production is on its way to twice as large as 2040,” said Lanrigan, who was not involved in the new study.

Landrigan is the lead author of a March 2023 -Report from Minderoo – Monaco -Commission about Plastics and Hun’s Health, A global consortium of researchers, health workers and political analysts accused of following plastic from creation to the final product.

In the report 2023, the consortium is certain plastic associated with damage to human health at each step of the plastic life cycle.

“Studies have found these plastic in the human heart, the large blood vessels, the lungs, the liver, the testicles, the gastrointestinal tract and the placenta,” Lantigan said.

“The biggest question is ‘OK, what do these particles do against us?’ Frankly, there’s a lot we still don’t know, ”he said. “What we know with real certainty is that these microplastic particles are like Trojan horses – they carry with them all the thousands of chemicals that are in plastic, and some of these chemicals are very bad actors.”

By invading individual cells and tissues in larger organs, nanoplasts can potentially interrupt cellular processes and landfill Endocrine displaceable chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants, heavy metals and per and polyfluorinated substances or PFAs.

Endocrine disturbed disrupting the human reproductive system, leading to genitals and reproductive malformations as well as female infertility and a decrease in sperm numbers, according to Endocrine community.

“We have some pretty good indications that microplastics and nanoplasty cause damage, even though we are far from knowing the full extent of this injury,” Lantigan said. “I would say that we have enough information here that we have to start taking protective actions.”

American Chemistry Council, an Industry Association, told CNN Says the FDA Current scientific evidence does not show that microplastics or nanoplasts detected in foods pose a risk to human health.

“Research Along the way, not only helps to tackle the current data shells in our understanding of exposure to microplastics, but it also aims to develop improved tools to measure the toxicity of microplastics for humans, said Kimberly Wise White, the Council’s vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs .

“This work is important in view of the unfamiliar methods often used by scientists who can lead to unreliable or misleading results, the complex nature of microplastics and the many variables that can affect human health,” she said.

To the study, Published Monday In the journal Nature Medicine, researchers examined brain, kidney and liver tissue harvested from people underwent a forensic autopsy in 2016 and 2024. In comparison, researchers also looked at brains from people who died between 1997 and 2013.

Brain tissue samples were collected from the frontal cortex, the area of ​​the brain associated with thinking and reasoning. It is the part of the brain that is most affected by Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and later phases of Alzheimer’s disease.

While some of the larger particles that are a micrometer to five micrometers go into the liver and kidneys, ”

Microplastics are fragments that can range from less than 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) or about the size of a pencil sources to 1 nanometer. A string of human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Something less is a nanoplastic that needs to be measured in billions of a meter.

“Based on our observations, we believe that the brain draws the very smallest nanostructures, as well as 100 to 200 nanometers in length. This is about the size of two covidviras side by side, ”said Campen, who is also director of the New Mexico Center for Metals in Biology and Medicine.

Nanoplasty Is the most worrying plastic for human health, experts say, because the minuscule pieces can stay in individual cells.

“Somehow, these nanoplastic hijack their way through the body and come to the brain and cross the blood-brain barrier,” the camp said. “Plastic loves fat or lipids, so a theory is that plastic hijacks their way with the fats we eat, which are then delivered to the organs that really like lipids – the brain is top among them.”

The human brain is about 60% fat by weight far more than any other organ. Significant fatty acids, such as omega 3s, are the key to the strength and performance of the brain’s cells. Since the human body cannot produce essential fatty acids on their own, they must come from food or supplements.

Diet is the most important exposure route for micro and nanoplastics, Lantigan said, but some are also airborne: “When people drive down the highway and their tires hit the surface of the highway, a certain amount of microplastic particles are thrown into the air.

“If you live near the coast, some of the microplastic particles that are in the sea are kicked in the air through wave action,” he said. “So ingestion is probably the dominant route, but inhalation is also an important route.”

There are many steps that individuals can take to reduce their exposure to plastic and their plastic footprints, experts say.

“It is important not to scare hell out of people because science in this space is still evolving and no one in the year 2025 will live without plastic,” Lantigan said.

“I say to people, ‘Hear, there are some plastic that you can’t escape. You do not get a mobile phone or computer that does not contain plastic. ‘But try to minimize your exposure to the plastic you can avoid, especially disposable plastic. ”

It’s hard to avoid food wrapped in plastic films because they are ubiquitous, Lanrigan said, but you can take the food out of the plastic wrapping before cooking it or putting it in the microwave.

“When you heat plastic, it speeds up the movement of microplastics from the packaging in the food,” he said.

Invest in a zipped fabric bag and ask the dry detergent to return your clothes in it instead of the thin plastic sheets suggested Defense Council for Natural Resourcesan environmental advocacy group. Bring a travel mug to the local coffee shop for takeout and silverware for the office to cut back on plastic cups and tools.

“Don’t use plastic bags when you shop. Use a cloth bag or paper bag or a recycling bag. Try to avoid plastic water bottles if you can do so, ”Lanrigan said.

A March 2024 study found 1 liters of bottled water-appropriate to two standard size bottled water, typically purchased by consumers-contained an average of 240,000 plastic from seven types of plastic. About 90% of them were nanoplasty.

“Use a metal or glass drink cup instead of a plastic cup. Store your food in glass containers instead of in plastic, ”Lanrigan said. “Work in your community to ban plastic bags that many communities around the United States have now done. There is a lot you can do.

“And at a societal level, you can join forces with other people who love children’s health to push for restrictions on plastic production and for the use of safer chemicals in plastic,” he said. “Just because we don’t know everything there is to know about any chemical in plastic does not mean that we should not intervene against the plastic chemicals we know are bad actors.”

The editor’s note: This story was originally written in August 2024 based on a pre-printing, which is an early copy of a paper that had not yet been peer-reviewed. It has been updated to reflect the final peer-reviewed and published paper in nature.