In recent years, researchers have periodically identified human organs breached by a microplastic (MP) incursion that has spread to every corner of the planet. Microplastics have been found in Antarctica, in babies, and even in human blood and lungs, so perhaps it was inevitable that researchers would find them in the human brain.
In a study published by JAMA Network Open in September 2024, a team of scientists, led by Dr. Thais Mauad, an associate professor of pathology at the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil, found microplastics in an anterior area of the brain called the olfactory bulb. This was the first known published study on microplastics in the brain.
The olfactory bulb is a part of the brain that processes information associated with smell. There are two bulbs per person, each located above a nasal cavity.
Some researchers “worry the olfactory pathway may also be an entry point into the brain beyond the olfactory bulb,” NBC News reported.
The team analyzed the olfactory bulbs of 15 deceased individuals and found microplastics in eight of them. The most common polymer discovered was polypropylene (43.8%), and the most common identifiable shapes were particles (75%) and fibers (25%). The sizes of the MP particles ranged from 5.5 to 26.4 μm, while the mean fiber length was 21.4 μm.
The study authors said their discovery raises “important questions about … the mechanisms by which MPs might reach brain tissues” as “the presence of microplastics in the human olfactory bulb suggests the olfactory pathway as a potential entry route for microplastics into the brain.”
They highlighted a need for further research on the “neurotoxic effects and implications for human health.”
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