Mikroplastik kann nach der Einnahme in das Gehirn und andere lebenswichtige Organe gelangen, wie eine neue Studie zeigt

We are living in an increasingly plastic world. Microplastics, tiny shards of polymers less than five millimetres in length, have been found everywhere from the far reaches of the arctic to the depths of our lungs and bloodstreams. Now, researchers have discovered that microplastics in our food and water are able to cross the intestinal barrier to reach our most sensitive organs — and were among the first to detect their presence in the brain. 

 “It’s currently estimated that us as humans consume about five grams of microplastics per week, the equivalent of a credit card,” the study’s lead author Dr. Marcus Garcia, a pharmacist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico, told the Star.

 “We’re in a kind of rough situation where almost everything that we consume, there’s some type of microplastics present.” But while unaffiliated experts appreciated the study for its novel insights, they noted potential flaws in the research — including that five gram figure: “There isn’t a consensus on how much plastic we are exposed to,” said Lindsay Cahill, a professor of chemistry at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Over a period of four weeks, Garcia and his team laced the drinking water of a group of mice with varying microplastic concentrations, up to the equivalent of five grams per week in humans. They tested polystyrene particles, but also a batch of mixed plastics similar to what might be encountered in nature. The results were dramatic. On dissecting and analyzing the animals’ organs, plastics were detected deep inside their brains, livers and kidneys — signaling a spread across the intestinal barrier and far into the body.

A flurry of papers have emerged in recent years that found microplastics in other organs, including the human heart. Garcia previously detected the particles in placenta as well, and even devised a method to count the number of plastics present. In the brain, studies suggest micro and nanoplastic accumulation could lead to worsened brain development or even trigger neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s over time.