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Microplastic particles (microplastic particles, also known as MNP) have been shown to enter the blood, lungs and placenta through food, liquids... consumed by humans.
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| Model of plastic and cholesterol molecules crossing the blood-brain barrier. Photo: NANOMATERIALS |
However, according to the results of a recent study published in the journal Nanomaterials, a team of researchers from Austria, the United States, Hungary and the Netherlands discovered that MNPs can penetrate into the brains of mice. They introduced polystyrene (a common plastic used in food packaging) particles in three sizes (9.5 - 1.14 - 0.293 micrometers) and fluorescently labeled them and mixed them into the drinking water of mice. Green fluorescent signals measuring 0.293 micrometers were detected in the brain tissue of the mice that drank it after only 2 hours.
But how MNPs cross the blood-brain barrier, which helps the brain block out toxins and other unwanted substances… is a big question. Further experiments showed that smaller plastic particles can gather other molecules around them, hugging them tightly, and this molecular mixture transported the microplastics across the blood-brain barrier into brain tissue. According to the authors, not only is the speed of movement alarming, but the ability of large molecular weight compounds (polymers) to slip into the nervous system has sounded serious alarm bells. According to pathologist Lukas Kenner from the Medical University of Vienna (Austria), in the brain, microplastics can increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders or even cause diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's.
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