It’s well-known that microplastics are pervasive, with scientists finding microplastics in testicular tissue, lungs and even blood. But now, researchers have discovered microplastic pieces in samples of the human brain at higher levels than expected.
In a new pre-printed study published early by the National Library of Medicine, scientists analyzed plastic content in the livers, kidneys and brains of autopsied human bodies. While the team found microplastics in all of the organs, the scientists were concerned that the average amount of microplastics in the 91 brain samples was between 7 and 30 times higher than the amount of microplastics in the liver and kidney samples.
“It’s pretty alarming,” Matthew Campen, lead author of the study and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico, told The Guardian. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”
In the study, the authors revealed that 24 of the brain samples that had been collected earlier […]
Many of our current ills, including large elements of the so called culture wars, are rooted in the underregulated petro- chemical industry. If this article does not present a wake-up call very little will. The petro-chemical industry has been poisoning us for decades. It must be constrained if we are to survive.