A recent US study by University of New Mexico scientists published in Nature Medicine found more microplastics (tiny shards of polymer) in human brains than in any other organ.
Further, people who died in 2024 had, on average, 50 percent more microplastics in their brains than people who died just 8 years earlier.
Meanwhile, a recent study from Canada’s University of Ottawa and University and Toronto, plus California’s Loma Linda University, published in Brain Medicine, has focused on microplastics in the brain and how to reduce exposure.
It highlighted a study from Canada’s University of Victoria, published in Environmental Science and Technology, which concluded switching from bottled water to tap water could reduce intake of microplastics from 90,000 each year to 4,000.
That study also noted bottled water was the second greatest source of microplastics; the air we breathe was first and seafood third – and these three ‘accounted for the large majority of microplastic intake’.
A Chinese study published in Environmental Science and Technology showed boiling water then pouring it through a coffee filter removed up to 90 percent of the microplastics.
However, a study from Canadia’s McGill University also reported in Environmental Science and Technology found a single teabag steeped in 95°C water released well over 14 billion microplastics.
A series of US experts told medicalnewstoday.com choices to reduce exposure around the home included: avoid anything made of nylon or polyester – clothes, furniture, curtains, carpets, cushions, toys, pet toys – which constantly shed microplastic fibres; sweep or vacuum as much as possible; don’t buy polyester or nylon covered bedding, towels, underwear, furniture, rugs or carpets; installing a microfiber- catching filter to laundry machines and dryers; don’t heat food in plastic containers or on plastic plates; don’t use plastic utensils, straws, chopping boards, pans or plates (instead opt for natural materials like glass, wood, bamboo and cotton); avoid plastic packaging; use as few toiletries as possible because they often contain plastic chemicals like phthalates.
