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February 3, 2025

High levels of microplastics found in human brains

By Douglas Main

A new study has found high concentrations of tiny plastic particles in human brain samples, with levels appearing to climb over time.

The paper, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, found nanoplastics in each of the brain samples studied, and found a potential link between the presence of the plastics and several types of dementia.

“There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with,” said Matthew Campen, a doctor and researcher at the University of New Mexico who is the lead author of the study.

The median concentration in brain samples collected from people who died in 2024 was nearly 5 micrograms of plastic per gram of brain tissue, tallying almost 0.5% by weight.

This total was 50% higher than it was just eight year prior, from brain samples acquired in 2016 (for various reasons, most brain samples become available these two years). This suggests the concentration of microplastics found in human brains is going up as plastic waste and microplastic pollution increases.

“You can draw a line — it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,” Campen said.

May 2, 2023

Outrage over fresh chemical leak at Shell plastics plant

By Dana Drugmand

When Shell Chemical Appalachia announced the start of a massive plastics manufacturing facility last November in western Pennsylvania, the subsidiary of oil major Shell described it as “world-class,” and touted the company’s “strong and innovative safety focus.”

But now, just six months later, the plant has been the site of multiple malfunctions, including the leakage of benzene, a known carcinogen, along with other pollutants last month. The events come with putrid chemical odors and have area resident fearing for their health and calling on state officials to shut the plant down.

“We’re being told everything is ok, everything is safe, and it’s not,” said Hilary Flint, a cancer survivor who said she worries daily about how the malfunctions at the Shell plant may be affecting her health. Though she lives several miles away, she often spends time visiting her partner in Monaca, the community neighboring the Shell plant. Flint said both she and her partner contracted respiratory illnesses the week of the Shell plant’s chemical leak.