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US researchers have found up to 30 times more microplastics in brain samples than in the liver or kidneys. The concentration was even higher in dementia brains.
Tiny plastic particles are increasingly accumulating in tissues of the human body. A US research team has found significantly more nano- and microplastics in the livers and brains of people who died in 2024 than in samples from 2016. The contamination was particularly high in the brain—up to 30 times higher than in the liver or kidneys, reports the group led by Matthew Campen from the University of New Mexico in the journal “Nature Medicine.”
Your brain consists of 99.5% brain tissue—but the rest? Plastic. That’s the disturbing finding of a new study led by Matthew Campen of the University of New Mexico, who found microplastics in human brains at far higher levels than in other organs. Even more worrying is that these tiny particles are accumulating rapidly and have increased by 50% in the last eight years: “There is much more plastic in our brains than I could ever have imagined,” says Campen. On average, the brain samples examined contained around 7 grams of microplastic—roughly the weight of an average plastic spoon.
To make matters worse, the study found up to ten times more microplastics in the brains of 12 dementia patients than in healthy brains. Although the correlation is clear, the researchers pointed out that further studies are needed to establish a direct link.
The research team analyzed 52 brain samples—28 from autopsies performed in 2016 and 24 from 2024. While microplastics were present in every single sample, concentrations were significantly higher in the more recent samples. Further brain samples dating back to 1997 followed the same alarming pattern, with higher levels of microplastics found in the newer samples. The increase reflects the global increase in plastic waste. Global plastic production has more than doubled in the last two decades and now amounts to around 400 million tons per year. Scientists have already established that humans consume 5 grams of microplastics every week, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of a credit card. Microplastics have been detected in various parts of the body, including the lungs, liver, kidneys, placenta, blood, sperm, and even breast milk.
The most common microplastic discovered by the researchers at the University of New Mexico was polyethylene, which is often used in packaging materials such as bottles and cups. What’s more, many of these particles were smaller than previously thought—some are no bigger than viruses. These tiny fragments are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier, although the exact process of how they are transported to the brain is still unclear. Campen suspects that they enter the brain primarily through our food.
Although the full health effects of microplastics are still uncertain, studies suggest that they can damage cells, trigger inflammation, disrupt organ function, and alter immune responses. Exposure to these tiny particles has also been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as some cancers. Although it is almost impossible to completely avoid microplastics, everyone can take steps to reduce the use of plastic (packaging) in their daily lives.
Despite a global push to reduce plastic production, researchers warn that the threat of microplastics will not disappear anytime soon. It takes decades for plastic to break down into microscopic particles, which means that pollution will continue to increase in the coming years.
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