By Annie Wagner ‘27
From bottles to packaging to kitchen utensils, plastic is everywhere. We interact with it every day, benefiting from its relative inexpensiveness, lightweight nature, and wide range of uses. However, plastic is more pervasive than we think, and not in a good way: it is no longer just found in everyday objects; it’s also beginning to enter our bodies.
Plastic is causing a new, major issue: microplastics. As plastic degrades over time, it disintegrates into progressively smaller pieces which can be 0.5mm or less in diameter— about the width of pencil lead. These particles enter the environment, oceans, and even our food sources, eventually making their way into our bodies. Plastic then crosses the blood-brain barrier and implants itself in our soft cerebral tissues, never to leave again.
This process is going on as we speak, as plastics are consumed and circulated through our bodies and bloodstreams. You are no exception: The amount of microplastics in your brain could add up to as much as 7 grams, or approximately one spoonful. Research shows that the amount of microplastics found in the brain, and other tissues too, is steadily increasing: samples taken in 2024 and 2016 differ by about 50%, with some 2024 samples containing microplastics that accounted for 0.5% of the brain’s total weight.
Even more concerning is the fact that individuals with dementia such as Alzheimer’s had up to 10 times more plastic in their brains than individuals without dementia. Still, whether plastic causes or is merely correlated with dementia remains to be seen. Nevertheless, such large amounts of plastic in te brain certainly doesn’t do any good, thoughthat much plastic in your brain isn’t doing you any good- but experts don’t yet know what kind of negative impacts it may cause those are.
What can you do? As a start, the best solution, while we work on fully understanding how microplastics affect our bodies, is to avoid single-use plastics altogether. Single-use plastics are any products that you use once and then throw out, such as plastic shopping bags, bottles, and cutlery. Due to their consumable nature, these products are not meant to last and can leach microplastics into their surroundings.
Many municipalities are already working on phasing out single-use plastics by replacing them with alternatives such as paper bags, wooden cutlery, and reusable bottles. These small steps are helping reduce exposure to microplastics and slowing theirgrowth increasing levels in our bodies. You can do your part as well by avoiding single-use plastics and reducing, reusing and recycling to protect yourself from these nanoparticle nuisances. We can all play a role in reducing the level of plastic entering our bodies, and potentially prevent chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s in the future.