Microplastic penetrates into human body tissues

American scientists examined brain samples from 52 people and found that the concentration of microplastics in tissues increases over the years. One of the authors, toxicologist Matthew Campen, said that up to 10 grams of plastic can be extracted from the brain — about the weight of a new wax pencil or plastic spoon. This news has spread widely around the world, but experts advise treating the conclusions with caution.

Others point out that the scale of the study was too small, and the causal relationship between the presence of microplastics in the brain and harm to health has not been proven. Oliver Jones, a professor of chemistry from Australia, stressed that all the study participants were healthy to death, and even the authors themselves admitted that there was no evidence of harm so far. Moreover, he questioned the assumption that there might be more plastic in the brain than in sewage.

In addition, the study was criticized for duplicating images in the publication, although experts are confident that this did not affect the key findings. The question remains open: is microplastics harmful to the brain and the body as a whole?

So far, most of the studies are observational in nature, that is, they do not allow us to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship. Experiments on mice show that microplastics can cause rare blood clots in the brain, but it is emphasized that the human brain is much more complex. In 2022, the World Health Organization concluded that there is still insufficient data on the risks of microplastics to human health.

Nevertheless, more and more experts are calling for the application of the precautionary principle. If we wait until we have “enough” evidence, it may already be too late. That is why, on the eve of international negotiations on the creation of the first plastic pollution treaty, experts insist that action must be taken now. According to the latest data, plastic production has doubled since 2000, and if nothing is changed, it will triple by 2060.

As noted in a recent report by the Institute of Global Health in Barcelona, it is impossible to wait for a complete set of data — this is a matter of prevention, risk assessment and protection of vulnerable populations. The world is on the verge of a possible environmental and medical problem, the consequences of which are not yet clear. But the time for inaction has already passed.