A new study sheds light on why health conditions like cardiovascular disease are linked to the ingestion of microplastics

NEED TO KNOW

• Researchers found microplastics can produce reactive molecules when exposed to water, according to a new study published on Oct. 14
• Their growing surface area may trigger chronic inflammation linked to heart disease, dementia and fertility concerns, a lead author on the study told Scientific American
• Microplastics have been found in food, dust, cosmetics and human brain tissue

Scientists may have have pinpointed the way that microplastics can harm the human body in a new study published on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

In a study published in Nature, researchers found that microplastics can generate highly reactive molecules when exposed to water. These reactive molecules can lead to cardiovascular disease, dementia and fertility problems, according to the study.

The chemical activity of microplastics is amplified when they are broken down into microscopic pieces, dramatically increasing their surface area, and therefore leading to chronic inflammation when consumed, Wei Min, a chemist at Columbia University and one of the senior authors of the study, told Scientific American.

Min went on to tell the outlet that bulk plastic’s toxicity is frequently exaggerated in comparison to that of microplastics.

“For microplastics, this is especially important because fragmentation creates enormous amounts of new surface area,” Min told Scientific American.

The study examined particles of commonly used bulk plastics, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate, and found that when exposed to water, they cause the “spontaneous generation of reactive oxygen species.”

“As plastic fragments into smaller and smaller particles, its surface area increases enormously,” Min explained in a Columbia Climate School press release. “Then microplastics change the water that surrounds them, generating high-energy, reactive radicals that very likely contribute to biological damage that we see in animals and potentially in humans as a result of microplastic exposure.”

A 2025 study also published in Nature, in which researchers examined cadaver brains, found an increase in microplastics in the brain, measuring up to a spoonful per sample.

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“Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher,”  co-lead study author Matthew Campen, Regents’ Professor and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, told CNN at the time. “That would mean that our brains today are 99.5% brain and the rest is plastic.”

Microplastics can be found in trash, dust, fabrics, cosmetics, cleaning products, rain, seafood, produce, table salt, and more, according to Harvard Medical School.

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