It seems that this latest discovery may be difficult for people around the world to accept. Small pieces of plastic are finding their way into the brain, according to a paper published in the journal "Environment Health Perspectives".
Researchers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine say that microplastics from the water, food and air we breathe pass from the respiratory tract and digestive system to other organs, such as the kidneys, liver and brain.
"Over the last decades, microplastics have been found in the ocean, in animals and plants, in tap water and in plastic bottles," says Eliseo Castillo, professor of Gastroenterology at this university. "They seem to be everywhere," added Eliseo, who is the lead researcher on microplastics.
The group of researchers tested this fact for four weeks in mice by giving them drinking water to measure the amount of microplastics that humans are said to take in each week. Scientists found that people consume five grams of microplastics every week, which is the weight of a credit card.
They found that microplastics move from the gut to other body tissues. "These mice were exposed for four weeks. Now, think how that equates to humans if we're exposed from birth to old age to microplastics," says Castillo.
The professor said that if healthy mice exposed to small pieces of plastic showed signs of physical changes after just a few weeks, people exposed for life could see their health deteriorate.
People get a credit card's worth of plastic every week.
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Source: New York Post
