Microplastics Can Block Clog Blood Vessels In Mice Brains, Reducing Motor Functions; They're Essentially Causing Strokes

Microplastics can move through mice brains and block blood vessels, essentially mimicking blood clots that could potentially be fatal or otherwise disrupt brain function. The findings are detailed in a peer-reviewed paper for which researchers for the first time used real-time imaging to track bits of plastic as they moved through and accumulated in brain blood vessels. When one piece of plastic got stuck, others accumulated behind it, like a “car crash”, the authors reported.

The authors then found decreased motor function in those mice exposed to microplastics, suggesting impacts on the brain. While mounting evidence has linked microplastics to neurotoxicity, the research is the first to suggest how – it probably reduces blood flow. “This revelation offers a lens through which to comprehend the toxicological implications of microplastics that invade the bloodstream,” the Peking University authors wrote.

Microplastics are tiny bits of plastic either intentionally added to consumer goods, or which are products of larger plastics breaking down. The particles contain any number of 20,000 plastic chemicals, of which thousands, such as BPA, phthalates and Pfas, present serious health risks.

The substance has been found throughout the human body, and can cross the placental and brain barriers. Recent research found microplastics to be accumulating in human brains at much higher levels than eight years ago. The substance is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and cancer, and is considered to be a neurotoxicant that can cause multiple forms of brain dysfunction, such as Parkinson’s disease.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/11/microplastics-mice-brains