Microplastics Health: Understanding the Alarming Impact of Microplastics in the Brain

Craig: recent scientific investigations have revealed troubling trends in microplastic accumulation with human tissues. between 02/2016 and 2024, microplastic concentrations in human brains rose approximately 50% with twenty twenty four brain tissue samples showing alarming high contamination levels. this rapid increase points to an accelerating environmental plastic pollution making its own way into our bodies. what's going on here, john?

Jon: this is nuts. this is scary. so, also, i don't know if we're gonna talk about it in this, but they're also finding microplastics in our rain now. so we don't have to worry about acid rain. we gotta worry about plastic rain. so there's a study that they did that they revealed that our brains contain microplastics at point o five point 5% by weight. so what does that mean? that's equivalent to a disposable spoon or seven grams or five plastic bottle caps in our freaking brains, which is scary. so they analyzed, they did autopsies. they analyzed the frontal cortex, and they detected 4,800 micrograms of microplastics per gram of brain tissue. so with and the type of plastic is polyethylene, which is commonly used in packaging. so there were smaller nanoplastics that were more prevalent in the brain while larger particles accumulated in the liver and kidneys. so this is crazy because microplastic levels in humans reflect our exponential environmental contamination. so global plastic production in 2023 was 460,000,000 metric tons. that's crazy. so i don't know what this means as far as, like, what is it causing in the brain? did you see anything on kind of like, what are the effects it's having on people's brain at all? i didn't see anything.

Craig: no. brain tissue contamination of plastics is now among the most disturbing health pollution revelations. even low level plastic ingestion may lead to chronic inflammation and immune system challenges. plastic particles may act as carriers for additional environmental toxins in the human body. spectroscopic detection allows polymer specific identification of microplastic types in human tissues. microplastic contamination is now being viewed as a planetary boundary breach with direct human health costs. so it, i didn't see specifically, but, obviously, those are some major concerns.

Jon: yeah. so yeah. so i yeah. what what it, what it had found was that, like, the causation kinda remains unproven, but not only microplastics, but pfas are being found in us. so, like, there's there's some crazy scary stuff that's happening because of years and years and years of unregulated it's protect like, essentially, production of these pfas. and, so for those of you that don't know, those are forever chemicals, pfas, and they're used in a whole bunch of different things. they're actually used in your clothes too, to make your clothes feel softer. so, there's a lot of, there's a lot of health implications which are scary here. i'm scared to know when they do their next study, maybe three or even a year from now, how much more microplastics they're gonna find because, they're finding microplastics in rain now too. sorry?

Craig: yeah. you mentioned that. i'm not a % sure what

Jon: i could be wrong, though. that doesn't make sense.

Craig: well, i mean, if it's in the water, why wouldn't it make sense that it's in the rain? sure.

Jon: yes. so there yeah. microplastics are being found in rainwater around the world, even in remote locations. so, typically, one micrometer and, yeah. anyways, sorry. i just did a quick google search, but, so, yeah, it's found in our rainwater.

Craig: so drinking water can reduce microplastic ingestion from municipal or bottled water sources, but, like, usually, those filtration systems, unless you're on the tap, they're using plastic components. so, i'm starting to wonder, you know, really how much that helps. you know?

Jon: exactly. yeah.

Craig: we did talk about there are some startups trying to, get rid of pfas. we talked about that yeah. a couple of months ago. so that's a good thing. but this, we don't know the long term effects of this. and plastic is a byproduct of petroleum, and we're a petroleum based society, and, you know, we've been more and more plastics. however, i feel like since 02/2016 and 02/2024, a few things have happened, but we reduced plastic bag usage completely. like, where everyone's using, not paper bags anymore. what do you call it? cloth bags now? sorry.

Jon: yeah. bags that last even longer, and people are just using them one time.

Craig: well, i mean, we use them and whatever, but that's not that's not really the point is that they attack plastic bags but what do you put in the plastic bags? you know, a thousand things, in plastic. and, you know, like, it's it seems like you're not really hitting the source. and then you go places, you're not allowed to have glass on the beach. you're not allowed to have this. so what is the alternative to plastic that's not glass?

Jon: exactly. there was one thing that i saw that was really cool. i don't know if this would help with other things, but they were using cornstarch for straws. so i thought that was great. it hasn't taken off, but, yeah.

Craig: so i think everybody needs to take some personal responsibility as much as they can for this because no one maybe you do. when i say no one, i believe no one wants accumulated microplastic garbage in their brain. so choose reusable alternatives. replace single use plastic items with durable alternatives made from glass or stainless steel or food grade silicone. avoid microwaving in plastic. heat can accelerate the leaching chemicals from plastic containers in food. use ceramic or glass containers instead. use microfiber catching laundry devices. these can trap, synthetic fibers that shed from clothing during washing. filter drinking water, which we mentioned, reducing plastic food packaging, purchase loose products and bulk items as where possible, and choose natural fiber clothing. synthetic fibers like polyesters, shed microfibers during washing and wearing, and natural fibers like cotton, wool, and linen, are better alternatives. and the other thing is, don't use those, micro they have them in shampoos and stuff, and i think they've gotten rid of it. but they have them. yeah.

Jon: probably the scrubbing yeah. yeah. yeah. so the yeah. whenever i think microplastics, that's what i always think of. so

Craig: yeah. so the presence of microplastics in human brain tissues represents one of the most concerning developments in our understanding of microplastics' health impacts. the research reviewed in this article paints a troubling picture, rising contamination levels, and potential links to serious neurological conditions. the widespread bioaccumulation throughout human tissues is very concerning. we'd love to know what you think. are you gonna start cutting plastics out of your life or start looking for alternatives, or are you just gonna let your brain become one plastic, and we're all gonna become barbie and ken dolls in the future? let us know. love to hear your thoughts.