More Microplastics In Your Brain? New Mexico Lab Reveals New Research
More Microplastics In Your Brain? New Mexico Lab Reveals New Research
Author: Team Grove
There are microplastics in our oceans, our soil, and our food. But what happens when they end up somewhere far more personal — like our brains? One lab at the University of New Mexico is investigating just that, using cutting-edge research techniques.
Their latest study suggests that the average human brain may now contain as much as five bottle caps worth of plastic. While this amount is being verified through ongoing research, the presence of plastic in our brains is a startling thought, and the implications are just beginning to come into focus. Today, the lab’s director Dr. Matthew Campen believes that the microplastics in our bodies are much smaller than anything other scientists once described, making it even more imperative to understand what damage they can do as they travel from organ to organ.
Breaking new ground: The research effort
Using high-resolution microscopes capable of detecting particles 400 times smaller than a human hair, Dr. Campen’s team identified microplastics so thin they were translucent. Their most recent findings? Brain samples from 2024 contained nearly 50% more microplastics than samples from 2016, with people suffering from dementia showing even higher concentrations than average. However, while these discoveries shed light on the potential accumulation of plastic in our bodies, scientists emphasize that many questions remain — especially about how much plastic it takes to affect human health, and which types pose the greatest risk. Dr. Campen’s work is now shifting toward studying brain tissue cross-sections to find out whether high concentrations of microplastics in certain regions can be linked to issues like memory loss. This is just the beginning of understanding a problem that has quietly become a public health frontier.
Challenges along the way
Dr. Campen has been open about the current limitations of his lab’s research, and the team confirms that the experiments are costly and time-consuming. They hope their work serves as a jumping off point, particularly as some members of the scientific community are not fully aligned with Dr. Campen’s conclusions.
Some experts have flagged a “fair amount of uncertainty” in the data due to the novelty of the research methods and the difficulty of distinguishing microplastics from naturally occurring substances like lipids. There’s also debate around Dr. Campen’s unconventional stance that older, weathered plastics may pose a greater threat than so-called “fresh plastics” from water bottles or microwaved containers. While many scientists argue that both types should be taken seriously, Campen believes the tiniest, most degraded fragments are more likely to penetrate our brain and remain there. As with all early-stage science, replication and refinement will be key to turning initial insights into actionable understanding.
What about plastic outside of the brain?
Microplastics have been found in nearly every part of the human body: blood, semen, placentas, and more. Many plastics carry chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), and flame retardants — substances that have been linked to hormonal disruption and more. While Dr. Campen and other scientists are still learning the full scope of these risks, the presence of plastic in places as intimate and vital as the placenta should be a wake-up call.
Increasing microplastic awareness
Despite some open questions, Dr. Campen’s team is doing something powerful: pulling back the curtain on just how pervasive plastic has become. With plastic production doubling roughly every 10 to 15 years, the amount entering our bodies is only expected to rise.¹ Their study warns that our throwaway culture is leaving behind a harmful legacy that demands further research.
Sources
1 WWF (2021). Plastics: The Costs to Society, the Environment and the Economy. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Plastik/WWF-PCSEE-Report-Plastics-the-Costs-to-Society-the-Environment-and-the-Economy.pdf
