Mouse study shows microplastics infiltrate blood brain barrier

[Wishful]

https://newatlas.com/environment/microplastics-blood-brain-barrier/

I'll definitely wait for confirmation by other researchers, since I thought the BBB was a pretty strong barrier. They're talking about particles around 1/4 the size of a blood cell, so maybe it's possible. Plastic garbage clogging our microglial cells could possibly explain ME.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

oh boy.....

 

[BrightCandle]

Its certainly be a dangerous experiment letting plastics break down in the environment. We are all carrying around substantial amounts of micro plastic pieces already and its going to get much much worse. The inventions of the 20th century do seem to have been pretty bad for the environment generally, we did enormous amounts of harm to people.

 

[Wishful]

It's too bad that there's no definitive answer for when ME first appeared. If we knew that the first case of ME was in year xxxx, long before the first modern plastics, we could rule this out. If ME is due to microplastics, the number of cases each year should match the amount of microplastics in the environment.

 

[Wishful]

I also wanted to say that if this claim is verified, it would have a huge impact on society. There would be much stricter regulations about use of plastics ... and a huge campaign by the plastics industry to deny it.

 

[BrightCandle]

It's too bad that there's no definitive answer for when ME first appeared. If we knew that the first case of ME was in year xxxx, long before the first modern plastics, we could rule this out. If ME is due to microplastics, the number of cases each year should match the amount of microplastics in the environment.

ME predates plastics by hundreds of years. There are references in 1800 century medical texts to this condition so it can't be caused by plastics. Could be made more prevalent by or worsened by plastics of course but it can't be caused by it.

 

[Wishful]

There are references in 1800 century medical texts to this condition so it can't be caused by plastics.

I came across that reference, but it sounded so vague that it could be some other disease. I came across something saying that the first mention of PEM was 1969 or some such year. Since PEM is a distinct, reliable response to exertion, it should have showed up much earlier in records.

 

[Nuno]

Any ways of removing plastic of the body? Like chelating substances or so?

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Plastic is carbon....

maybe if we think of it that way, then, we need only some simple nano conversions....

 

[Wishful]

Any ways of removing plastic of the body? Like chelating substances or so?

I doubt that there's any simple way to remove tiny foreign particles from inside cells. Immune cells might be able to surround it, but they probably lack the enzymes to break those polymers down. Hmmm, if we are getting these micro--and nano--bits of plastic in our bodies, is there some place where immune-cell-coated bits would logically accumulate, such as lymph nodes or kidneys/liver?

Great, now I'm imagining the equivalent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch somewhere in my body.

 

[Wishful]

Any ways of removing plastic of the body?

Here's something that might someday become a possible answer: https://newatlas.com/science/pac-man-living-xenobots-reproduction/

Technology marches on...