These are the ways microplastics could harm your brain and what you can do to prevent them

Microplastic debris pictured in this 2020 file photo. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

A new study has looked at the links between microplastics and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in an attempt to understand what we can do to possibly prevent such damage.

The systematic review Do microplastics play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases? Shared pathophysiological pathways for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease was recently published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

Co-author and associate professor Kamal Dua, a pharmaceutical scientist from the University of Technology Sydney, noted that every year adults consume enough microplastics to cover a dinner plate - around 250 grams.

While most of the plastics are cleared from our bodies, studies find that they can accumulate in our organs, including the brain.

These microplastics can be found in a range of everyday sources like processed food, plastic cutting boards, contaminated seafood, drinks in plastic bottles, and plastic fibres from carpets and synthetic clothing, among other things.

The study looked at five main pathways in the body by which microplastics can impact the brain: by triggering immune cell activity; generating oxidative stress; disrupting the blood–brain barrier; damaging neurons; and impairing mitochondria, the “powerhouses” of a cell that produce most of the chemical energy needed for them to function.

“The body treats microplastics as foreign intruders, which prompts the brain’s immune cells to attack them,” Dua said in a press release. “When the brain is stressed by factors like toxins or environmental pollutants this also causes oxidative stress.”

The study also examined the particular ways that microplastics could lead to Alzheimer’s, including triggering increased buildup of the brain protein tau as well as beta-amyloid, a clumping protein fragment that forms brain plaques; and Parkinson’s through the aggregation of alpha-synuclein, a protein that’s mainly found in the brain, and damage to dopaminergic neurons, the nerve cells that make and release dopamine.

“We need to change our habits and use less plastic,” said co-author Keshav Raj Paudel in a release. “Steer clear of plastic containers and plastic cutting boards, don’t use the dryer, choose natural fibres instead of synthetic ones and eat less processed and packaged foods.”