United States: Microplastics have been found within the human brain for the first time by a global team of scientists.
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Scientists from Germany and Brazil revealed that eight of every fifteen adult bodies autopsied had microplastics, whereby the olfactory bulb, which is the part of the brain associated with smell, was identified.
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According to scientists, the particles could have been inhaled time and again over the course of human life because microplastic particles are always floating in the air.
While microplastics have been discovered in human lungs, intestines, liver, blood, testicles, and even semen, it had been assumed that the human body’s protective blood-brain barrier would prevent these microplastic particles from entering the brain, US News reported.
But, as found in the new study, there is “a potential pathway for the translocation of microplastics to the brain” via the olfactory bulb, revealed a team led by Luis Fernando Amato-Lourenco of the Free University Berlin and Thais Mauad, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil.
The findings of the research were published in the journal JAMA Network Open on September 16.
As per Mauad, “With much smaller nanoplastics entering the body with greater ease, the total level of plastic particles may be much higher,” US News reported.
“What is worrying is the capacity of such particles to be internalized by cells and alter how our bodies function,” Mauad continued.
Details of the study
The new study also included post-mortem brain materials from 15 cases, which was a part of the autopsies section of the residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The ages of the individuals ranged from 33 to 100 ( mean age = 69. 5 years).
“A total of 16 synthetic polymer [plastic] particles and fibers were identified” in the brain olfactory bulbs of 8 of the 15 deceased people, according to the report.
Moreover, the nature of the plastic was identified in nearly 44 percent of the cases, of which polypropylene is one of the primary types of plastic that ranges from packaging usage to clothing accessories at home.
Therefore, it suggested “indoor environments as a major source of inhaled microplastics,” the team noted.