“Plastic not only pollutes our oceans and waterways and kills marine life, it’s in all of us, and we can’t escape the consumption of plastic.” —Marco Lambertini, World Wildlife Fund International Executive Director
We are gradually being buried in microplastics. We’ve been accumulating these durable materials since they were first mass-produced in the 1950s, which was no surprise to their inventors. After all, they were looking for something extremely durable that could withstand abuse, even in thin sheets.
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Of course, humans create trash all over the world all the time. The difference is that plastic does not decompose. Plastic bags are used for a few minutes, but can last for centuries.
Because of its toughness, the term “eternal chemical” was born. We shouldn’t be shocked to learn that things that never break must always pile up. It is not far-fetched to think that layers of sediment could be dated to our time and called the “Plasteocene” by future paleontologists.
How is this plastic affecting our health? First, these tiny particles find their way into many tissues in our bodies. How bad is that?
On the other hand, these plastics remain forever because they do not decompose or react with anything. But its non-reactivity is difficult to combine with active damage. What if they are chemically inert? Maybe microplastics are like the grounds in coffee, a nuisance but not deadly?
Some new research casts doubt on the fancier story that microplastics clog our systems. Researchers may not be factoring pollution into our enthusiasm for finding plastic. Perhaps a third of the plastic we identified could be contamination from lab gloves or other sources. Even more problematic is that some of the plastic found in the brain tissue may actually be fragments of nerve cell membranes, which in certain analyzes look a lot like polyethylene. The teaspoon of plastic that Robert F. Kennedy says is in our brains may be an exaggeration.
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However, the psychological effects of microplastics are visible. A recent Chinese study demonstrated this link. They showed that exposure to microplastics induced anxiety and depression in mice. The effect was dose-dependent. The more plastic you are exposed to, the greater the impact. This makes a strong case that microplastics can cause mental dysfunction, at least in mice. But how?
look at your intestines
They used fluorescence to track microplastics, but were surprised to find that very little reached the brain. Instead, she noticed they were accumulating in her gut and immediately looked at her microbiome. Researchers have found that microplastics change the balance of the gut microbiome, causing so-called dysbiosis. This destruction allows pathogens to run wild and cause damage to the intestinal lining.
Intestinal cells are tightly adhered within a translucent sheet one cell thick. This lining has the difficult job of letting nutrients in while keeping toxins out. They are vulnerable to pathogens that weaken the glue that holds cells together and pry them apart. This allows toxins and microplastics to enter the bloodstream and cause significant damage as the heart pumps them out to every organ in the body.
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This is the beginning of systemic inflammation.
The brain is a special organ in the body. Toxins and malignant microorganisms often damage our organs, which are usually fully repaired. However, the brain cannot be repaired without losing the valuable connections that give rise to memory and cognitive abilities. Therefore, there is a blood-brain barrier designed to prevent riffraff from entering. However, over time, systemic inflammation can erode that barrier. Toxins and even bacteria then enter the brain, where immune cells quickly track and destroy the toxins. However, the delicate nature of immune cells is not known and a lot of collateral damage can occur.
Although this battle cannot be felt directly in the brain, it is interpreted as anxiety and depression.
gut-brain axis
Since the gut-brain connection is now well-established in the scientific community, researchers looked at the possible link between this gut dysbiosis and mental health. If the problem starts in the gut, perhaps we can regenerate the gut and help the brain. They knew that probiotics had been used in this way with some success, so they thought they would try probiotic bait, a prebiotic. They chose galactooligosaccharides, or GOS, a fiber favored by gut researchers.
Gut-Brain Axis Essentials
Surprisingly, GOS alone repaired microplastic-induced dysbiosis without probiotics. With GOS, beneficial gut microorganisms thrived and the microbial balance in the gut improved despite the accumulation of microplastics. These microorganisms improved production of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter found in many antidepressants, and restored healthy microbial metabolism. Improved butyrate production ultimately led to the growth of new neurons in the brain, improving cognition and memory.
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The researchers said, “GOS restored intestinal homeostasis and improved behavioral and metabolic disorders such as anxiety and depression. Therefore, maintaining intestinal health, especially through dietary GOS, is a viable strategy to reduce neurotoxicity caused by plastic pollution.”
What about humans?
This study was conducted in mice, and it would be worthwhile to conduct follow-up human trials to see if the same treatments apply to humans. However, GOS is not an uncommon prebiotic and has long been shown to be effective against intestinal problems and inflammation in humans, so it appears to be a safe weapon in the fight against microplastics.
GOS and other prebiotics may be a stopgap for calming an increasingly plasticized body. But that shouldn’t distract us from cleaning up the mess we’re making on the planet.
