Microplastics May Be Fueling Parkinson’s Disease, Scientists Warn

Plastic pollution is seeping into the Earth, into wildlife, and into our bodies, and a new research review suggests tiny microplastics and nanoplastics could be disrupting some of the brain processes associated with Parkinson’s.

While Parkinson’s disease is associated with a wide range of risk factors, the rise we’re seeing in the number of people being diagnosed – its prevalence has doubled in the last 25 years – could be at least partly down to a rise in pollutants in the environment.

For this recent review, a team from Gannan Medical University and Guangzhou Medical University in China referenced more than 100 previous studies, including animal studies, laboratory experiments, and computational models, to build a compelling case linking plastics to Parkinson’s.