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The plastic inside us: how microplastics may be reshaping our bodies and minds The particles are in our blood, brains and guts – and scientists are only beginning to learn what they do Microplastics have been found almost everywhere: in blood, placentas, lungs – even the human brain. One study estimated our cerebral organs alone may contain 5g of the stuff, or roughly a teaspoon. If true, plastic isn’t just wrapped around our food or woven into our clothes: it is lodged deep inside us. Now, researchers suspect these particles may also be meddling with our gut microbes. When Dr Christian Pacher-Deutsch at the University of Graz in Austria exposed gut bacteria from five healthy volunteers to five common microplastics, the bacterial populations shifted – along with the chemicals they produced. Some of these changes mirrored patterns linked to depression and colorectal cancer. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/12/plastic-inside-us-microplastics-reshaping-bodies-minds?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu