Microplastics appear to create blockages similar to blood clots—like a ‘car crash in the blood vessels’

By Elizabeth Pratt | Fact-checked by Barbara Bekiesz

Published February 27, 2025

Key Takeaways

Industry Buzz

“We already have concerning signals about microplastics’ effects on fertility…” — Tracey Woodruff, PhD
“Think about your own practice and how you can decrease the amount of plastic waste you generate in healthcare—in offices, labs, and ORs.” — Angelle Desiree LaBeaud, MD

Find more of your peers' perspectives and insights below.

Researchers have discovered microplastics can block the blood vessels in the brains of mice, which has concerning implications for you and your patients.^[]

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers tracked the real-time movement of microplastics throughout the body of mice, ultimately finding that the microplastics become lodged in brain blood vessels, causing a host of serious health concerns.^[]

Read more of the latest (chilling) news on microplastics: We all have enough plastic in our brain to make a spoon

About the study

“In this study, we applied miniature two-photon microscopy (mTPM) and imaged microplastics (MPs) in the mouse brain in vivo while the animal was awake,” the authors wrote. “With the high-depth imaging capability, we observed MPs in the blood vessels of the mouse cerebral cortex. We tracked the high-speed movement of MP particles in the blood vessels, revealing a mechanism by which MPs can induce brain dysfunction and neurological impairment.”

Understanding the physiological effects of microplastics is important because, as the study authors note, microplastics have become ubiquitous.

When they accumulate in organisms, tissue dysfunction and chronic disease can result. Examples include respiratory disease, immune system disruption, chronic inflammation, and endocrine and metabolic effects. Once in the bloodstream, circulating microplastics can contribute to cardiovascular disease. Nanosized particles are also able to cross the blood-brain barrier and cause brain tissue dysfunction.

As part of their study, researchers gave mice water that was laced with fluorescent polystyrene, a material commonly used to make appliances, toys, and product packaging. After about 3 hours, fluorescent cells appeared in the mice.^[]

The researchers found that immune cells had seemed to ingest the bright fluorescent specks of plastic.

Some of the cells then became trapped in the blood vessels of the cortex in the brain. In a phenomenon one researcher described as “like a car crash in the blood vessels,” more plastic-filled cells would then pile on to these blockages.^[]^[]

Some of these blockages in the blood vessels cleared, but others remained for the full 4-week period the mice were under observation.^[]

Blockages likened to blood clots

The researchers noted that the blockages from the microplastic appeared similar to blood clots. The mice that were given the microplastic water had a reduction in blood flow in their brains as well as a decrease in mobility.

These findings add to a growing body of research warning of the health impacts of microplastics, and experts are worried.

“We should definitely be concerned, and that is because the plastics industry is… some say… projected to maybe triple by 2060,” Tracey Woodruff, PhD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and microplastics researcher at UC San Francisco, tells MDLinx.

“We already have concerning signals about microplastics’ effects on fertility, [and now we know] it can adversely influence the functioning of the gut and the colon, and that it increases these biomarkers that we know are linked to cancer,” Dr. Woodruff says.

Angelle Desiree LaBeaud, MD, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Stanford Medicine who co-founded the university’s interdisciplinary Plastics and Health Working Group, argues that, as well as counselling their patients on the use of plastics, physicians can also take steps to reduce their own use of plastic in a healthcare setting.

“Choose alternatives whenever you can (glass, wood, foil, paper, natural fabrics). Don’t heat up plastic—it leaches the toxins when you do. Consider air purification to remove microplastics in the air. Choose natural fabrics to decrease microplastics getting into our water. Support companies that are paying attention and making ecologically sustainable choices,” she shares with MDLinx.

“Think about your own practice and how you can decrease the amount of plastic waste you generate in health care—in offices, labs, and ORs,” Dr. LeBeaud says, noting that, in the US, 10% of greenhouse gas emissions are derived from the healthcare industry. “All of our actions matter. We need to role-model for our patients.”