By Irishexaminer.com,Niamh Griffin

Copyright irishexaminer

This study discovered how these nanoplastics can damage cells in the brain.

Dr Gavin Davey, associate professor at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin, said on Monday: “Our study shows if they get into the brain they have the potential to damage the brain in a similar way that the brain is damaged in Parkinson’s disease.”

He stressed this was an association, not a proven cause, saying further studies were needed to understand this fully.

They looked at what he called “hard plastics’ used in lunch boxes, food containers, cutlery and disposable foam cups, among other items. Some of these, including straws, were banned by the EU in 2021.

He advised people to “look at the box” before heating food or using hot water. Some products have a wax-like lining which makes them more durable.

“Sometimes my daughter gets a hard box [with her school lunch], but I certainly wouldn’t heat them up. I’d avoid that for sure,” he cautioned.

He added: “I would advise against putting hot water into them or microwaving them.”

The study warned the amount of plastic in our environments now poses an “under-recognised threat to brain health”.

As one example, he pointed to analysis of increases in Parkinson’s disease rates, even allowing for the ageing and growing population.

“There’s been a doubling in Parkinson’s disease [rates], which suggests that there is something that has developed in our environment that is causing this increase,” he said.

He added: “For me, there’s an association there with the massive increase in plastics over the last few decades as well, it’s just an association at the moment, but it could be.”

The idea for the study came from TCD student Devin Seward, who wanted to look at why cell mitochondria — the part of the cell which makes energy — are disrupted by nanoplastics.

Disruption of these has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and ageing generally.

The study is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics.