Microplastics: A Growing Threat + A Promising Solution

Most people have heard that plastic pollution is choking the oceans. Fewer realize that plastic has also invaded our bodies, even reaching our brains and blood. Startling new research reveals that the average adult may have approximately a plastic spoon’s worth of microplastics in their brain, spread as tiny particles among their cells - not in one piece, but as microscopic fragments that build up over time.

What Are Microplastics?

Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters; nanoplastics are even tinier, less than 1 micrometer in size. These particles come from two sources:

• - Primary: manufactured microbeads in seed coatings, toothpaste, cosmetics, arts and crafts products, etc.
  

• - Secondary: broken-down fragments from bottles, packaging, clothing, tires, and other everyday plastics.
  

Because they are so small, microplastics can circulate in the air, water, soil, and food - and in our bodies. They have been found in human brains, arteries, livers, kidneys, and blood. They enter our bodies when we eat, drink, and breathe. For example:

• - Eating fruit like apples exposes us to millions of microplastics.
  

• - Drinking bottled water delivers over 100,000 microplastic particles per liter - yes even glass bottled water.
  

• - Simply breathing brings microplastics into our lungs.
  

• - A recent study shows your sponge could be s huge culprit!
  
  

Effects on Health: What the Science Says

Sensitive new tests reveal microplastics in nearly all bodily tissues. And their presence correlates with negative health outcomes:

• - Brains with dementia have higher microplastic loads than healthy brains.
  

• - People with microplastics in their arteries are more than twice as likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, or die from any cause than those without.
  

• - The particles can disrupt cells, cause inflammation, and carry dangerous chemicals such as BPA or phthalates that disrupt hormones.
  
  

Our immune cells aren’t designed to degrade plastics - they try to engulf and contain them but end up clogged and dysfunctional, triggering chronic inflammation that can damage organs.

The scale of the problem is staggering. This month in The Lancet, researchers reported: “Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually”

The Problem: Once Inside, They’re Hard to Remove

Reducing exposure is the only strategy experts have recommended so far:

• - Switch to filtered tap water.
  

• - Avoid microwaving food in plastic.
  

• - Choose reusable bottles made of stainless steel, ceramic, or glass.
  

• - Use air purifiers to limit indoor airborne plastic particles.
  
  

But plastic pollution is everywhere—even glass bottles can be a surprising source, as microplastics shed from painted or plastic-coated caps contaminate the contents. Filtering helps, but perfect avoidance is impossible.

A Possible Solution: Mobilizing and Excreting Microplastics

What if we could get our cells to release trapped microplastics back into circulation, giving our bodies another chance to excrete them?

Recent breakthroughs in cell biology offer hope. A process called lysosomal exocytosis is a way for cells to dump their waste - including stubborn microplastics - from inside the cell back into the blood, where they might be eliminated through the liver, kidneys, or therapeutic procedures.

A natural compound, sulforaphane - abundant in some broccoli sprouts and found in bioavailable form in BrocElite - triggers this effect. Sulforaphane activates stress-response pathways in cells, boosting antioxidant defenses and pushing lysosomes (the cell’s “garbage bins”) to empty themselves by exocytosis.

In fact, a cutting-edge mouse study found that sulforaphane could clear harmful debris in a model of lysosomal storage disease, sparing brain cells from damage. The biology suggests that activating this pathway could help mobilize microplastics trapped inside our cells.

Testing Sulforaphane: Early Human Evidence

A careful and comprehensive self-experiment by Jon Brudwig, PhD (Director of Discovery Research & Gene Therapy at Amicus Therapeutics) tracked microplastic levels in blood before and after taking a high dose of stabilized sulforaphane (source: BrocElite Plus). A day after dosing, the blood showed a massive spike in larger microplastics (10 to 70μm), far above baseline - clear evidence that particles were being released from tissues into the bloodstream.

What happens next? It’s not fully understood. Some particles may get stuck again, but due to the mechanism of sulforaphane’s impact on each phase of detox, they are likely excreted in urine or bile. Plasma exchange - a therapy sometimes used in medicine - could also theoretically help remove these liberated particles from blood, limiting their return to body tissues. Even without such interventions, routine activation of lysosomal exocytosis through sulforaphane supplementation might help keep microplastic levels from accumulating.

Should You Try BrocElite or Sulforaphane?

Sulforaphane is safe at recommended doses and widely available as a dietary supplement. The most commonly studied dose is much lower than the high dose used in the experiment—clinical trials typically use around 10mg daily. For those interested in self-experiments, a consultation with a healthcare professional is always advised.

The Bottom Line

Microplastics are an invisible but real threat. Reducing exposure is essential, but approaches like chemical-free stabilized sulforaphane supplementation may offer hope for mobilizing and excreting plastics already present in our bodies. While this research is still developing, staying informed and proactive is the best way to protect your long-term health.

Caution: While the data is promising, it’s an early-stage approach. Scientists don’t yet know exactly how much plastic is excreted after mobilization, how quickly, or how much remains in the body. More research - involving urine, bile, etc - is needed.

References

1. Nature Medicine (2024): Microplastics in the Human Brain
   

   • “Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains.”
     https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03453-1

2. ScienceDirect: Microplastics in Apples
   

   • “Human exposure to microplastics via food.”
     https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935120305703

3. PNAS: Microplastics in Bottled Water
   

   • “Microplastics in bottled water: quantification and characterization by Micro-FTIR, Raman microscopy, and SEM-EDX.”
     https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2300582121

4. ACS Environmental Science & Technology: Breathing in Microplastics
   

   • “Inhalation of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Environment.”
     https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b01517

5. The New England Journal of Medicine: Microplastics in Arteries
   

   • “Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Human Carotid Arteries and Their Association with Cardiovascular Events.”
     https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

6. MDPI: Immune Cells and Microplastic Inflammation
   

   • “Cellular Internalization and Inflammatory Response to Microplastics.”
     https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/4/4065

7. PubMed: Sulforaphane Activates Cellular Exocytosis
   

   • “Sulforaphane-induced activation of lysosomal exocytosis and cellular detoxification.”
     https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38790684/

8. eLife: Sulforaphane Clears Lysosomal Debris in Disease
   

   • “Sulforaphane drives lysosomal clearance in mouse model of Niemann-Pick disease.”
     https://elifesciences.org/articles/103137

9. Substack: First Report of Microplastics Mobilization in Humans
   

   • “First Evidence of Microplastic Mobilization in a Human Subject.”
     https://jonbrudvig.substack.com/p/first-evidence-of-microplastic-mobilization

10. ANSES/French Agency: Glass Bottle Cap Shedding Study
    

    • “Glass bottles have 5-50x more microplastic than plastic—French Food Safety Agency.”
      https://platefulhealth.substack.com/p/glass-bottles-have-5-50x-more-microplastic#footnote-1-170044648
      

11. The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics (2025) 
    
    “Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually.”
    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01447-3/abstract