🧠 You have microplastics in your brain

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

But a new study found that humans have a growing amount of microplastics in our brains.

Researchers analyzed the brains of people who died between 2016 and 2024.

The 2024 brain samples contained an average of 7 grams of microplastics.

That's about the weight of a plastic spoon - in your brain.

What are Microplastics?

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are increasingly found in living creatures and in the natural environment.

They are created by the degradation of manmade plastics, or what can more accurately be called synthetic polymers.

It’s worth noting that plastics don’t occur naturally in nature.

The first synthetic polymer was created in 1869, and people quickly began developing others.

Nowadays, synthetic polymers like nylon (used to make clothes) and polyethylene (used to make plastic bags) can be found everywhere.

Microplastics can degrade into nanoplastics, which are invisible to the human eye.

It’s these sort of microscopic plastic particles that are being found in human brains.

And while scientists aren’t yet sure of how the presence of microplastics in the human body affects our health, it’s obviously a problem.

According to a 2023 study titled: “The potential impacts of micro-and-nano plastics on various organ systems in humans,” the presence of these plastics in the human body:

Another study found that microplastic pollution is significantly higher in placentas from premature births.

The researchers behind the brain study said of their own research:

How do microplastics enter the human body?

Microplastics enter our body in a disturbingly wide number of ways:

We are ingesting more microplastics because we are making more plastic.

Dr. Matthew Campen, one of the brain study's lead authors, said that global plastic production doubles every 10 to 15 years.

Another study estimates that plastic production will quadruple by 2050.

How do we get microplastics out of our bodies?

I hate to say it, but there is currently no known way of getting microplastics out of our bodies.

There are a few things you can do to prevent more microplastics from entering your body.

Basically, the best thing you can do is stop using plastic products.

Plastic forks, water bottles, plastic-based clothing, and plastic food packaging all expose us to microplastics.

Why do we have to deal with microplastics?

Plastics are a huge part of the global economy.

Last year, a study from Oxford Economics found that the global plastics production supply chain generates over $1 trillion in revenue annually.

Over the past few years there have been five attempts by the U.N. and partner organizations to pass a global treaty on reducing plastic waste around the world.

Unfortunately, none of those meetings resulted in a legally-binding global plastics waste treaty.

There should be a sixth meeting in Geneva, Switzerland later this year.

Hopefully, the sixth time’s the charm. 🤞

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