Tiny plastic particles lodge in mouse brains and block blood vessels, scientists discovered using real-time imaging that revealed how these microplastics travel through the body.
In a study published in Science Advances and reported in Nature, researchers used advanced fluorescence imaging to watch microplastics move through living mouse brains. The particles, smaller than 5 millimeters, were consumed by immune cells that later became trapped in the brain's blood vessels, creating traffic jam-like blockages.
It's "like a car crash in the blood vessels," explains lead researcher Haipeng Huang from Peking University in Beijing. The team used a specialized microscope to peer through surgically implanted windows in the mice's skulls, tracking fluorescent polystyrene spheres – the same plastic found in many household items and toys. Within just three hours of mice drinking plastic-laced water, glowing immune cells appeared in their brains. Some blockages cleared naturally, while others persisted for the entire four-week study period.
The findings add to mounting concerns about microplastics, which have already been found in human brains, livers, gonads, and kidneys.
Previously:
• Microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time ever
• Microplastics in drinking water is likely not harmful to people, World Health Organization says
• Study: people could be eating a credit card's worth of microplastics per week
• Tea found in delicious microplastic infusion bags
• Microplastics found in every semen test sample in study
• New study suggests that microplastics are stored in the balls