WEBVTT - How do microplastics end up in human brains?

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to a CNA podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Microplastics, there's a lot of mystery and uncertainty about the

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<v Speaker 1>science behind these tiny particles that are all around and

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<v Speaker 1>inside us. How much are we being exposed to in

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<v Speaker 1>our daily life? What are the health implications and what

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<v Speaker 1>can we do about it? Today we're looking at a

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<v Speaker 1>new academic report and checking for plastic in the bloodstream.

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<v Speaker 1>Hello and welcome to Climate Conversations. I'm Jack Bor. Welcome,

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<v Speaker 1>Lee Ling Tan, how are you? Hi,

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<v Speaker 2>Jack, I'm very well, thank you. I've had 3 cups

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<v Speaker 2>of coffee, so I'm bouncing off the walls. I can't

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<v Speaker 2>wait for the weekend. Woohoo! How are you? How are

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<v Speaker 2>you doing?

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<v Speaker 1>3 coffees already. I've had 1, but I see what

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<v Speaker 1>kind of headspace you're in, it's gonna

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<v Speaker 2>be interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yep, I'm good. Before we get too optimistic, before we

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to the weekend, we gotta get through this.

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<v Speaker 1>And we're gonna talk about microplastics. How many of them

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<v Speaker 1>do you think you have in your body?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, quite a bit. Wasn't there a study some time

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<v Speaker 2>back that estimated we could be consuming a credit card

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<v Speaker 2>worth of microplastics a week? That's probably how much microplastics

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<v Speaker 2>I have in me right now, Jack.

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<v Speaker 1>OK. Yeah, I've seen this report. I'm, I'm quite sure

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<v Speaker 1>it's been widely discredited.

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<v Speaker 1>And they definitely overestimated how many microplastics we're eating. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>like credit card. That's

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<v Speaker 2>a

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<v Speaker 1>lot

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<v Speaker 2>a week.

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<v Speaker 1>That's too much, it's far too much. But still we

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<v Speaker 1>are eating plastics. Does that concern you? No,

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<v Speaker 2>absolutely. It concerns me. It makes me wonder what kind

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<v Speaker 2>of long term effects that would have on our bodies.

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<v Speaker 2>But you know, I think we're going to bring in

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit of a silver lining today, right? There's

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<v Speaker 2>a new study that shows maybe, just maybe.

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<v Speaker 2>Our bodies are working to get rid of them. Maybe.

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<v Speaker 2>What about you? Are you worried?

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<v Speaker 1>Silver lining. That doesn't sound like you normally.

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<v Speaker 2>It's the coffee. It's the 3 cups of coffee. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it's made an optimist out of me.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm kind of worried about the impacts on our

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<v Speaker 1>general environment on the planet, just the amounts of plastics

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<v Speaker 1>that are out there. Uh, we'll get into all of that.

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<v Speaker 1>In a minute, but first up, you can't avoid, in

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<v Speaker 1>your bloodstream, the quiz. OK. Now, it's another ranking challenge,

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<v Speaker 1>which we've done a few weeks in a row, but

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<v Speaker 1>they're so fun. So I'm gonna give you another one

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<v Speaker 1>of those this. Hey, you've been doing pretty well the

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<v Speaker 1>last few times. It's related to microplastics. It's, it's based

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<v Speaker 1>on an Italian study.

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<v Speaker 1>That looked at regular fruits and vegetables. I want you

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<v Speaker 1>to tell me which of these had the highest levels

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<v Speaker 1>of microplastics contained within them when they were tested during

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<v Speaker 1>this study.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we have apples, we have carrots, pears, and lettuce.

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<v Speaker 1>So 4 fairly common types of foods. Spoiler, like everything

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<v Speaker 1>we seemingly consume, they all had microplastics inside them.

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<v Speaker 2>OK, so

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<v Speaker 2>apples, carrots, pears, and lettuce,

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<v Speaker 2>right?

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<v Speaker 1>No sound effects for

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<v Speaker 2>the

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<v Speaker 2>last one we had the animals. That was a bit corny.

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<v Speaker 2>But anyway, I think this is a good one. Let's

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<v Speaker 2>all have a think and then you know, for our

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<v Speaker 2>listeners to give them a chance to put answers, their

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<v Speaker 2>answers in the comment section and then see if you

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<v Speaker 2>do better than I do when we get to the

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<v Speaker 2>answers later.

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<v Speaker 1>Now for our main story this week, how worried should

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<v Speaker 1>we be about a rising number of microplastics in our

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<v Speaker 1>bodies and especially our brains. A new report published in

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<v Speaker 1>Nature Medicine looked at the issue. The findings are good

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<v Speaker 1>and bad, and a little nuanced. Over an eight year period,

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<v Speaker 1>the amount of tiny plastic particles found in examined human

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<v Speaker 1>brain tissue rose substantially.

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<v Speaker 1>Looking at the brains of cadavers, the researchers found that

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<v Speaker 1>about 0.5% of the mass was plastic. So basically, 99.5% brain,

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<v Speaker 1>the rest plastic, about the equivalent of a plastic spoon.

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<v Speaker 1>In your head.

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<v Speaker 2>That's giving me the heebie-jeebies. That's wow, 0.5% is a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>So these were, these were people at a, at an

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<v Speaker 1>average age of 40 to 50 years old. The amount

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<v Speaker 1>of plastics detected were much higher in the brain as

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<v Speaker 1>well than in the kidneys or the liver. So, any

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<v Speaker 1>more concerns from you at this point? Do we need

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<v Speaker 1>to stop

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<v Speaker 1>again?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so that's a lot of plastics taking up space

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<v Speaker 2>in my system rent-free.

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<v Speaker 2>But hey, the study also uncovered a little bit of

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<v Speaker 2>what could be potential silver linings. The research involved autopsies

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<v Speaker 2>over 8 years and it found that plastic levels did

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<v Speaker 2>not actually vary much with age, and this suggests that

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<v Speaker 2>maybe people can expel the material over time, which means

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<v Speaker 2>that

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<v Speaker 2>There can be ways to manage this microplastic content inside

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<v Speaker 2>our bodies, especially in our brains where they seem to

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<v Speaker 2>be accumulating,

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<v Speaker 1>right? And apparently finding plastic deposits in the brain does

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<v Speaker 1>not prove that they cause damage either, according to an

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<v Speaker 1>expert from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Um, now, she

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't actually involved in the study that we're talking about,

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<v Speaker 1>but she was cited.

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<v Speaker 1>In a CNN story saying it's not yet clear if

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<v Speaker 1>these particles are entering and leaving the brain or if

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<v Speaker 1>they collect in in brain tissues and and promote disease.

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<v Speaker 1>So definitely more research is needed. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think what was quite worrying for me too

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<v Speaker 2>is that the study that we were talking about found

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<v Speaker 2>that the plastic concentration in the brain samples were 7

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<v Speaker 2>to 30 times more than in the liver.

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<v Speaker 2>And kidney samples and that could be because these lower

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<v Speaker 2>organs are built to flush stuff out of the system.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, it seems to be accumulating more in the brain.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think what was important to also note was

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<v Speaker 1>that researchers here attributed the rise of the plastics in

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<v Speaker 1>the body in the brain.

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<v Speaker 1>Just as a reflection of the plastics in our environment,

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<v Speaker 1>so there are higher amounts of microplastics detected, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>only because they've increased at an extreme rate all around us,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than they're just simply accumulating inside of us. Mhm.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's, I guess talk about what microplastics really are

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<v Speaker 1>and why they're out there. OK, Lee, imagine the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you do that?

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<v Speaker 2>Imagine the

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<v Speaker 2>ocean. I can hear the

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<v Speaker 1>waves, the land, the air, and then all the plastic

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<v Speaker 1>waste that we as humans have created basically everywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>And the numbers of that beyond our imagination, really, more

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<v Speaker 1>than 6 billion tons of discarded plastic are out there

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<v Speaker 1>in the environment. And that might actually be an undercount,

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<v Speaker 1>there might be much more. And because it takes a

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<v Speaker 1>plastic bottle, for example, about 450 years to break down,

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<v Speaker 1>it means that every single piece of plastic ever made,

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<v Speaker 1>all those bottles are still out there. If it, if

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<v Speaker 1>it hasn't been incinerated or turned into something else.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, all of this plastic is also degrading. It's breaking

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<v Speaker 1>up into microscopic pieces, it's infiltrating the planet. It's being

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<v Speaker 1>consumed by animals and fish, and they get absorbed by

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<v Speaker 1>our food, they enter our water supply and into the

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<v Speaker 1>atmosphere where we breathe them in. So, not so surprising

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<v Speaker 1>that we're starting to find more and more microplastics inside

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<v Speaker 1>our body.

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<v Speaker 1>That kind of feels inevitable and also kind of seems

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<v Speaker 1>irreversible at this stage. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I think this study gives us an idea of how

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<v Speaker 2>bad it is, but the issue with microplastics has been

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<v Speaker 2>going on for so long. So you talked about accumulating

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<v Speaker 2>in animals and fish, but

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of the microplastics in our system also come

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<v Speaker 2>from other non-animal food sources as well, like fruits and vegetables,

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<v Speaker 2>even teas and salt, especially, you know, that Himalayan rock salt,

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<v Speaker 2>that fancy pink salt. Yeah, it's in that, it's in

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<v Speaker 2>that and it's in sugar too. And part of that

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<v Speaker 2>is because industrial discharge goes into.

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<v Speaker 2>water that then goes into the soil and then the

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<v Speaker 2>fertilizer that grow our produce. And then there's all that

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<v Speaker 2>plastic food packaging from cling wrap to bottled water, which

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<v Speaker 2>is of course one of the worst culprits. A study

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<v Speaker 2>last year estimated that 1 L contains an average of

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<v Speaker 2>240,000 plastic particles. Yummy. And then there are those Styrofoam

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<v Speaker 2>boxes as well. I mean, it's also been found in

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<v Speaker 2>breast milk, so it's really, really

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<v Speaker 2>Getting into our system in ways we cannot

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<v Speaker 2>imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>And in rice in rice as well. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>report out of Australia about the plastics in rice. So

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<v Speaker 1>shock and horror for us.

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<v Speaker 2>And yes, that's right, from the University of Queensland if

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<v Speaker 2>I recall. It was what, 3 to 4 mg of

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<v Speaker 2>plastic for every 100 g of rice eaten, right? And

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<v Speaker 2>I think the numbers are even worse for instant rice.

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<v Speaker 2>Pro tip, guys.

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<v Speaker 2>Listen up, wash your rice before you cook it, uh,

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<v Speaker 2>which the study says can cut plastics contamination by 20

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<v Speaker 2>to 40%.

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<v Speaker 1>Good idea. So what are these microplastics doing to us

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<v Speaker 1>and our planet? That's the big question, and for now

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<v Speaker 1>we don't really know, although I think we can assume

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<v Speaker 1>that none of this is good. What about the solutions then,

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<v Speaker 1>from a personal consumer point of view,

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<v Speaker 1>We can't avoid eating and drinking, clearly. Basically, as best

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<v Speaker 1>as you can, and this might seem really obvious, keep

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<v Speaker 1>plastic out of the the process. Try not to eat

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<v Speaker 1>out of plastic, heat your food in plastic or store

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<v Speaker 1>it in plastic containers. And then things like our choice

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<v Speaker 1>of clothing even can have an impact. Natural fibers can

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<v Speaker 1>reduce your exposure to microplastics as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And then there's the planet's angle, and there are so

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<v Speaker 1>many things we could discuss here, and we have discussed

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<v Speaker 1>in the past. Things from, from waste disposal to alternative materials,

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<v Speaker 1>reforming the plastic industry worldwide, which countries have been trying

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<v Speaker 1>to do for years now. Less consumption, public awareness, international treaties.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all on the table, I guess, but, but right

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<v Speaker 1>now the progress is slow, and we're creating and throwing

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<v Speaker 1>out more plastic now than ever before in history.

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<v Speaker 1>Alright, it is weather time, Lee Ling, what is on

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<v Speaker 1>our horizon?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the northeast monsoon season is still upon us, so

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<v Speaker 2>we can expect wet and windy conditions to stick around

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<v Speaker 2>for a bit, but it is tapering off. So around

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<v Speaker 2>these parts here, we expect some thundery showers, but fewer

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<v Speaker 2>full rain days like we've been seeing.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's according to the meteorological Service Singapore. Where you're at, Jack,

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<v Speaker 2>you've been enjoying some cooler weather,

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<v Speaker 1>that's mixed with a little, you know, cocktail of air pollution,

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<v Speaker 1>so that's

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<v Speaker 2>that's been fun.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm sorry to tell you that that coolness may

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<v Speaker 2>be ebbing, appears to be ebbing as temperatures edge up

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<v Speaker 2>with highs around 35 degrees in the coming days. It's

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<v Speaker 2>mild in Hanoi, but rain will persist almost daily in Jakarta.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, a mixed bag of uh weather conditions ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>Back to our quiz question. Hope you've had some time

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<v Speaker 1>to put these in order. Repeating the question. Tell me

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<v Speaker 1>which of these had the highest levels of microplastics contained

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<v Speaker 1>within them. We've got apples, carrots, pears, and lettuce.

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<v Speaker 2>OK, so remember earlier we talked about the water, the

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<v Speaker 2>microplastics in the water, microplastics in the soil, and the fertilizer.

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<v Speaker 2>And because of that, I'm gonna go bottom up.

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<v Speaker 2>So the vegetables and fruits that you mentioned that grow

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<v Speaker 2>closer to the ground and carrots, carrots on the ground

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<v Speaker 2>because they're root vegetables and then closer to the surface,

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<v Speaker 2>lettuce which grows just above the soil.

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<v Speaker 2>And then we've got apples and pears, and I'm just,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, taking a wild guess here because I think

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<v Speaker 2>pear trees are taller than apples. So there you go, carrots, lettuce,

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<v Speaker 2>apples and pears.

0:12:38.469 --> 0:12:42.349
<v Speaker 1>OK, well, your your hot streak is over. I have

0:12:42.349 --> 0:12:45.909
<v Speaker 1>to tell you it's it's over. Uh, you got some

0:12:45.909 --> 0:12:47.869
<v Speaker 1>of it it's kind of in the right order. In

0:12:47.869 --> 0:12:50.840
<v Speaker 1>this study, the most contaminated food.

0:12:51.429 --> 0:12:54.400
<v Speaker 1>Uh, were by far fruits, fruits were able to absorb

0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:59.020
<v Speaker 1>much more microplastic material than vegetables. So that meant that apples,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it had something to do with the sugar

0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.429
<v Speaker 1>as well. OK, don't ask me too much about the study,

0:13:03.469 --> 0:13:07.070
<v Speaker 1>it was very technical. But apples were the highest, recorded

0:13:07.070 --> 0:13:10.869
<v Speaker 1>the highest levels of contamination ahead of pears. Carrots were

0:13:10.869 --> 0:13:13.250
<v Speaker 1>the worst of the vegetables, so that came in at

0:13:13.250 --> 0:13:17.950
<v Speaker 1>number 3. And then lettuce had, you know, surprisingly, the

0:13:17.950 --> 0:13:19.419
<v Speaker 1>least amount. So.

0:13:20.179 --> 0:13:20.809
<v Speaker 2>Maybe they

0:13:20.809 --> 0:13:21.608
<v Speaker 2>absorb.

0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:22.880
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure that's part of it,

0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:27.679
<v Speaker 2>yes. less about proximity than the mechanisms of, yeah, OK.

0:13:27.919 --> 0:13:30.080
<v Speaker 1>Go check out the study. It's there online and you

0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.119
<v Speaker 1>can learn about why those fruits and vegetables absorbed plastic

0:13:34.119 --> 0:13:34.640
<v Speaker 1>like they did.

0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.270
<v Speaker 1>For now, that's the end of this episode of Climate Conversations.

0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.960
<v Speaker 1>As always, we thank you for joining us. Please give

0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.439
<v Speaker 1>us some feedback, come and connect with us on social media.

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<v Speaker 1>We're there.

0:13:45.159 --> 0:13:48.349
<v Speaker 2>And I'm Lee Ling Tan. Thank you for listening in.

0:13:48.599 --> 0:13:52.108
<v Speaker 2>And we'll hopefully see you back here next week.

0:13:52.359 --> 0:13:54.919
<v Speaker 1>Hopefully, the plastics won't have consumed you. Yes, we'll be

0:13:54.919 --> 0:13:55.079
<v Speaker 1>here

0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:55.710
<v Speaker 2>next week.

0:13:56.119 --> 0:13:57.959
<v Speaker 1>I'm Jack Board. Thanks as always to the team that

0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.900
<v Speaker 1>put together this podcast, Sai Ye Win, Tiffany Ang, Janai Jahari,

0:14:01.929 --> 0:14:03.190
<v Speaker 1>and Christina Roberts.