Study Shows Microplastics Block Blood Flow in Brain

A Chinese research team used imaging tools in real time to show how cells from mice clogged with plastic bits impair their movement

Researchers have long known that microplastics are bad for the environment. Now, for the first, scientists have succeeded in tracking, in real-time, tiny plastic particles devoured by immune, through the bloodstream and into the brain where they become stuck. The microplastics appear to reduce blood flow to the brain and impair movement in the mice for several days.

The findings, published this week in Science Advances, are the latest in a series of studies looking at the impact of microplastics and nanoparticles polluting the environment, which has led to new restrictions on microplastics in Europe. In this latest study, scientists used a fluorescence imaging technique known as a miniature two-photon microscopy to conduct what amounted to surveillance of mice, particularly their brains, during the controlled experiment. The scientists said they have tracked microplastics in the hearts and livers of mice though those findings are not yet published.

To learn more about this research check out the story in Nature.