The 3 easy ways to prevent toxic plastics ‘destroying’ your brain – as doctor warns of ‘damage and dementia risk’
A DOCTOR has shared three easy ways to avoid microplastic consumption – after studies linked a buildup of toxic particles in the brain to dementia.
Harvard graduate Dr Saurabh Sethi warned that plastic is increasingly showing up in people’s brains, which could be “extremely dangerous” to our health.
Research published last month found “alarming” levels of tiny microplastics and nanoplastics in human brain tissue – up to 7g for some.
Study authors said these tiny plastic particles – shed by everyday items like cutting boards, non-stick cookware, food packaging and even clothes – could potentially be linked to dementia, as people with the brain robbing disease seemed to have greater concentrations of microplastics in their brains.
Previous studies have also linked the plastic shreds to cancer and heart disease.
Dr Sethi said: “These particles can cross the blood brain barrier, potentially causing inflammation and damage.”
The gastroenterologist, flagged everyday habits and items to his 501,000 TikTok followers that could be driving up microplastic consumption.
“Water bottles – not just bad for the planet, it could be in your brain,” he noted in a clip, which has racked up 23,000 views.
He said plastic water bottles, which shed plastic particles into water particularly if exposed to heat, are a major culprit.
Microwaving plastic containers can also release microplastics into food, he added.
Plastic tea bags can leak “millions” of microplastics into your hot drink too, the doctor went on.
Dr Sethi shared easy ways to avoid ingesting plastic fragments where you can.
“You cannot avoid microplastics completely, but can certainly limit exposure,” the doctor said.
“Your brain will thank you.”
One easy switch is to stop drinking out of plastic water bottles, the doctor said.
Instead, he advised: “Use glass or metal water bottles.
He also advised filtering your water at home and even installing a “reverse osmosis filter” to dredge out microplastics.
“Never microwave plastic,” the doctor went on.
Try using ceramic or plastic containers instead if you want to heat your food up.
And – as convenient as they are – you may want to considering ditching plastic tea bags and brewing your tea differently.
What are microplastics and why are they a worry?
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than five millimetres in diameter.
They come from a variety of sources in our everyday life, from larger pieces of plastic debris, such as from the degradation of bottles, to the tiny beads in personal care products like toothpaste and exfoliants, and synthetic fibres from textiles like polyester and nylon.
We can either ingest them, for example in food and water contaminated with them, or inhale them from the air.
There is growing concern about the potential health impacts of microplastics on both the environment and human health.
When ingested or inhaled, microplastics can cause physical and chemical damage to living organisms.
Studies have shown that they may be involved in inflammation in the body by leading to the release of proteins called inflammatory cytokines.
While these studies are typically small and in animals or cells, inflammation is linked to a range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.
Cellular damage has been a key focus of studies on microplastics.
The tiny pieces of plastic have been shown to cause cell death, cause damage via oxidative stress, and interfere with hormone function.
There is also evidence to suggest that microplastics can cause genotoxic effects, meaning they can damage genetic material within cells – raising fears they can contribute to cancer.
The evidence is still evolving for these tiny particles that are barely visible to the naked eye.
“Switch to loose leaf tea,” Dr Sethi suggested.
The doctor’s warnings echo those made by Dr Brandon Luu, an internal medicine resident at the University of Toronto, last month who said: “Bottled water alone can expose people to nearly as many microplastic particles annually as all ingested and inhaled sources combined.
“Switching to tap water could reduce this exposure by almost 90 per cent, making it one of the simplest ways to cut down on microplastic intake.”
Research published last month also added chewing gum to the growing list of items that may be putting our health at risk.
Sanjay Mohanty, the study’s principal investigator and an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said: “Our goal is not to alarm anybody.
“Scientists don’t know if microplastics are unsafe to us or not. There are no human trials.
“But we know we are exposed to plastics in everyday life, and that’s what we wanted to examine here.”
If the average person chews 160 to 180 small sticks of gum per year, the researchers estimated that they could be swallowing around 30,000 microplastics.