Dry plastic particles can accumulate at higher levels in the human brain than in the kidney and liver, with higher concentrations detected in post -mortem samples of 2024 than in 2016, a study points out.
Although possible implications for human health are still clear, these findings highlight a consequence of the increase in Global plastics concentrations Environmental, the scientists responsible for the research, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
In this sense, they remember that the amount of Nanoparticles and microparticles plastic has increased exponentially in the last 50 years.
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Main findings in brain tissue
Matthew Camlan and his Health Sciences team of the University of New Mexico (USA) used novel techniques to analyze the distribution of micro and nanoparticles in samples of liver, renal and brain tissues of people to whom autopsies were practiced in 2016 and 2024.
According to Camlan, plastic concentrations in the brain seemed to be higher than in the liver or kidneys, and higher than previous reports for placentas and testicles. “The findings should activate the alarm”he states in a statement from the university.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers analyzed a total of 52 brain samples (28 in 2016 and 24 in 2024); They detected these particles in all of them and found similar concentrations in the samples of liver and kidney tissues obtained in 2016.
However, brain samples taken at that time, all derived from the frontal cortex region, contained substantially concentrations higher plastic particles than liver and kidney tissues.
The team also found that 2024 liver and brain samples had significantly higher concentrations of plastic micro and nanoparticles than 2016.
Next, they compared these findings with those of brain tissue samples of previous periods (1997-2013) and observed that there were higher concentrations of plastic particles in the most recent tissue samples.
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Implications in brain health
The scientists also saw a greater concentration – 10 times more – of micro and nanoplastic particles in 12 brains of individuals with a documented diagnosis of dementia than in those who did not have it.
However, about the latter, the authors themselves indicate that the findings do not establish a causal relationship between Plastic particles and health effects.
They also suggest that some variations in brain samples could be due to geographical differences, since the specimens were taken in New Mexico and in localities of the east coast of the United States.
Therefore, they say, more long -term studies are needed with broader and diverse populations to determine the trends of accumulation of microparticles and nanoparticles and their possible implications for health.
These results highlight the critical need to better understand The exposure, absorption and elimination routesand the possible consequences for the health of plastics in human tissues, particularly in the brain, the researchers conclude in their article.
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Other studies on microplastics in the body
In recent years, various scientific studies on microplastics and the human body have appeared.
For example, an investigation indicated that the microplastics – less of 5 millimeters– and the nanoplastic, invisible to the naked eye, had been found in high concentrations in placentas of baby born prematurely, more than those of those born to the term.
And in the past plastics have been found, among others, in the deepest section of the lungs or in the bloodstream of humans.
(With EFE information)
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