Microplastics are being found in crucial human organs, including the brain, according to various scientific studies.
Researchers are calling for more urgent and actionable measures to reduce plastic pollution after several studies detected tiny microplastics (typically around 5mm in diameter) in a wide range of human organs, including the lungs, reproductive organs, liver, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.
“It is now imperative to declare a global emergency” in reference to the growing rate of plastic pollution, said Sedat Gündoğdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey, per The Guardian.
While the exact health consequences in humans are not yet fully known, studies have found that microplastics can lead to oxidative stress, which can result in cell damage, inflammation, or cardiovascular disease.
And through recent animal studies, researchers have discovered that microplastics can also cause fertility issues, impaired learning and memory, various cancers, and a disrupted endocrine and immune system. The apparent build-up of the tiny pieces in multiple human organs is “scary,” said Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, The Guardian.
Researchers advise people to reduce their exposure by avoiding the use of plastic in food preparation (ie. microwaving) and the accumulation of dust. Additionally, some researchers advise eating less meat, especially processed products.
Microplastics or tiny plastic particles in a glass of water.
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Concerns have grown since the National Institutes of Health published a study in May finding that, on average, 91 brain samples contained roughly 10 to 20 times more than other organs (e.g., the liver and kidneys), making the brain “one of the most plastic-polluted tissues yet sampled.”
The study’s lead author, Matthew Campen, a toxicologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico, said the findings are “pretty alarming… There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”
“I don’t know how much more plastic our brain can stuff in without it causing some problems,” Campen added.
Another one of Campen’s studies examined 12 brain samples from people who had died with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease — and found that the brains contained up to 10 times more plastic, by weight, than healthy samples.
Additionally, over an 8-year period, from 2016 to 2024, the brain samples showed a 50% higher total of microplastics — which reflected a similar increase in the rate of microplastics found in the environment. “You can draw a line – it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,” Campen said.
Macro shot on a bunch of microplastics that cannot be recycled.
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Additionally, in a July 2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials study, microplastics were found in all 16 of the bone marrow samples examined. Each sample contained polystyrene — the plastic used to pack peanuts and electronics — and almost all contained polyethylene, which is used for clear food wrap and detergent bottles.
Similarly, microplastics were found in all 45 samples for a study examining patients with knee or hip surgery.
Yet another study examined 312 patients who had fatty deposits, or plaques, removed from their carotid arteries. Of those, almost 60% of the samples contained microplastics — and those subjects were 2.1 times more likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or die.
At this time, the United States does not have established government standards for plastic particles in food or water. However, the Environmental Protection Agency is outlining guidelines for measuring them and, since 2018, has issued grants to help researchers develop new ways to efficiently detect and quantify microplastics.
The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement: “Current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.”
The United Nations Environment Assemblyhas begun creating a global treaty to end plastic pollution across the world.
