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Scientists watch in real time as microplastics block blood vessels in mouse brains [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-01-27  

Tiny plastic particles lodge in mouse brains and block blood vessels, scientists discovered using real-time imaging that revealed how these microplastics travel through the body.

In a study published in Science Advances and reported in Nature, researchers used advanced fluorescence imaging to watch microplastics move through living mouse brains. The particles, smaller than 5 millimeters, were consumed by immune cells that later became trapped in the brain's blood vessels, creating traffic jam-like blockages.

It's "like a car crash in the blood vessels," explains lead researcher Haipeng Huang from Peking University in Beijing. The team used a specialized microscope to peer through surgically implanted windows in the mice's skulls, tracking fluorescent polystyrene spheres – the same plastic found in many household items and toys. Within just three hours of mice drinking plastic-laced water, glowing immune cells appeared in their brains. Some blockages cleared naturally, while others persisted for the entire four-week study period.

The findings add to mounting concerns about microplastics, which have already been found in human brains, livers, gonads, and kidneys.

Previously:

• Microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time ever

• Microplastics in drinking water is likely not harmful to people, World Health Organization says

• Study: people could be eating a credit card's worth of microplastics per week

• Tea found in delicious microplastic infusion bags

• Microplastics found in every semen test sample in study

• New study suggests that microplastics are stored in the balls

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/01/27/scientists-watch-in-real-time-as-microplastics-block-blood-vessels-in-mouse-brains.html

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