The study showed that microplastics can get into the human brain through breathing.

For the first time, scientists have discovered microscopic microplastics stuck in the human brain. Researchers from Germany and Brazil say that microplastic was found in 8 out of 15 opened adults in the olfactory centers of the brain, the olfactory bulb.

The study showed that microplastics can get into the human brain through breathing

For the first time, scientists have discovered microscopic microplastics stuck in the human brain. Researchers from Germany and Brazil say that microplastic was found in 8 out of 15 opened adults in the olfactory centers of the brain, the olfactory bulb.

Probably, the particles got into the human body during life, because small floating microparticles of plastic are everywhere present in the air.

Although microplastics have already been found in the lungs, intestines, liver, blood, testicles and even human sperm, it has long been believed that the body's protective blood-brain barrier may prevent particles from entering the brain.

However, the new study suggests that there is a "potential way of moving microplastics to the brain" through the olfactory bulb, according to a group led by Luis Fernando Amato-Laurenzo from the Free University of Berlin and Tais Mauada, associate professor of pathology at the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

The group published its conclusions on September 16 in JAMA Network Open magazine.

"Since much smaller nanoparticles of plastic get into the body more easily, the overall level of plastic particles may be much higher," Mauad said in a press release from the Health Council regarding plastic, a group that advocates reducing the use of plastic.

"The ability of such particles to penetrate the cells and change the functioning of our bodies is worrying," Mauad added.

The new study included brain tissues from 15 routine autopsies performed on deceased residents of São Paulo, Brazil. The age of the deceased ranged from 33 to 100 years (average age 69.5 years).

"A total of 16 particles and fibers of synthetic polymer [plastic] were found in the olfactory brain bulbs of 8 out of 15 deceased people, researchers report.

In almost 44% of cases, plastic was polypropylene - one of the most common types of plastic, used in everything from packaging to clothes and home accessories.

According to the researchers, this suggests that "the internal environment is the main source of inhalable microplastics".

The new study included brain tissues from 15 routine autopsies performed on deceased residents of São Paulo, Brazil. The age of the deceased ranged from 33 to 100 years (average age 69.5 years).

"A total of 16 particles and fibers of synthetic polymer [plastic] were found in the olfactory brain bulbs of 8 out of 15 deceased people, researchers report.

In almost 44% of cases, plastic was polypropylene - one of the most common types of plastic, used in everything from packaging to clothes and home accessories.

According to the researchers, this suggests that "the internal environment is the main source of inhalable microplastics".

So how do these microscopic fragments penetrate the brain?

Amato-Lourenko and his colleagues note that the nasal mucosa, located outside the brain, can interact with the cerebrospinal fluid, which allows microplastics to penetrate the olfactory bulb through tiny "perforations" in the bone structures found in this area.

"When you breathe through your nose, your olvator nerve directly captures particles and reacts to them, acting as a direct sensory mechanism," says Dr. Wells Bramble, a leading lecturer in the Department of Medical Toxicology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.

"The absence of a blood-brain barrier provides direct access to the brain, and, most importantly, the frontal and prefrontal lobes are located directly above the olmator nerve.