There is now microplastic in human brains and in artery plaque, and both have been linked to worse health. But neither study shows the plastic caused the harm. They found an association, not a cause.
- A 2025 Nature Medicine study found plastic in all 52 brains tested, 7 to 30 times the level in liver or kidney, and about 50 percent more than in 2016.
- A 2024 NEJM study found patients with plastic in their artery plaque had about 4.5 times the rate of heart attack, stroke, or death over three years.
- Dementia brains held the most, but a damaged brain lets more in, so the plastic may be a symptom, not a cause.
Cutting bottled water and heated-plastic food lowers the plastic in you. Whether it lowers your risk, nobody yet knows.
