Featured Evidence
Summaries and citations:
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Microplastics can be inhaled and ingested. You may inhale more microplastics sitting down to eat than when you consume mussels (ocean filter feeders).
Blackburn K, Green D. The potential effects of
microplastics on human health: What is known and what is unknown. Ambio.
2022;51(3):518-530. doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01589-9. -
Nano/microplastics increased in brain tissue over time. Dementia brains had higher concentrations.
Nihart AJ, Garcia MA, El Hayek E, et al.
Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains. Nat Med.
2025. doi:10.1038/s41591-024-03453-1. -
More diverse and distributed microplastics found in the tissue of patients with colorectal cancer.
Pan W, Hao J, Zhang M, Liu H, Tian F, Zhang X, Jiang Z, Chen C, Gao M, Zhang H. Identification and analysis of microplastics in peritumoral and tumor tissues of colorectal cancer. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):16130. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-98268-6.
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Microplastics in carotid artery plaque linked to greater incidence of (heart attack | stroke | death).
Marfella R, Prattichizzo F, Sardu C, et al. Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2024;390(10):900-910. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2309822.
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Microplastics found in all testis examined. A possible explanation for falling sperm count rates?
Hu CJ, Garcia MA, Nihart A, Liu R, Yin L, Adolphi N, Gallego DF, Kang H, Campen MJ, Yu X. Microplastic presence in dog and human testis and its potential association with sperm count and weights of testis and epididymis. Toxicol Sci. 2024;200(2):235-240. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfae060.
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Microplastics found in human placentas (maternal and fetal sides).
Ragusa A, Svelato A, Santacroce C, et al. Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta. Environ Int. 2021;146:106274. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106274.