Rose Rimler

We talked about this in our episode last year. That's right. The chemicals can interfere with our hormones. Yeah, there's also early evidence that microplastics could irritate the immune system, like causing inflammation. So we don't want a lot of microplastic in our bodies, even beyond the fact that it's gross. Like that could be really bad.

We talked about this in our episode last year. That's right. The chemicals can interfere with our hormones. Yeah, there's also early evidence that microplastics could irritate the immune system, like causing inflammation. So we don't want a lot of microplastic in our bodies, even beyond the fact that it's gross. Like that could be really bad.

Yeah. I mean, believe it or not, yes. Science is on our side. Great. With that gut feeling. So let's dive into this paper. Let's find out what's going on here. I talked to a bunch of scientists about this. One person I spoke to was a professor of chemistry named Oliver Jones. He is at RMIT University in Australia.

Yeah. I mean, believe it or not, yes. Science is on our side. Great. With that gut feeling. So let's dive into this paper. Let's find out what's going on here. I talked to a bunch of scientists about this. One person I spoke to was a professor of chemistry named Oliver Jones. He is at RMIT University in Australia.

Do you remember when you first heard about this paper that said there's enough plastic in the human brain to add up to a plastic spoon?

Do you remember when you first heard about this paper that said there's enough plastic in the human brain to add up to a plastic spoon?

Yes, yeah, just like me. He thought to himself.

Yes, yeah, just like me. He thought to himself.

So why suspicious? Well, to understand that, you have to understand exactly what these scientists did. So they got little pieces of brain tissue from dozens of people who had died for a variety of reasons. And they were looking for evidence of plastic in these tissue samples.

So why suspicious? Well, to understand that, you have to understand exactly what these scientists did. So they got little pieces of brain tissue from dozens of people who had died for a variety of reasons. And they were looking for evidence of plastic in these tissue samples.

And the way to do that is, you know, there's no magic wand that you can wave over a tissue sample and it beeps like, boop, boop, plastic detected. There's nothing like that. So what these scientists did is they used this technique that's called pyrolysis. What is it?

And the way to do that is, you know, there's no magic wand that you can wave over a tissue sample and it beeps like, boop, boop, plastic detected. There's nothing like that. So what these scientists did is they used this technique that's called pyrolysis. What is it?

Which I feel like I could imagine there's like a Lin-Manuel Miranda rap to be written about. Gas chromatography, mass spectrometry.

Which I feel like I could imagine there's like a Lin-Manuel Miranda rap to be written about. Gas chromatography, mass spectrometry.

Yeah. Well, the very first step is pyrolysis, which is what it sounds like.

Yeah. Well, the very first step is pyrolysis, which is what it sounds like.

Yeah, so they literally get these bits of brain and then burn them. And the game is to try to search for evidence of plastics in the gas that comes off. Oh, that's cool. So you take the smoke that you've created, you run it through a machine, that's the gas chromatographer, It separates and sorts all the different components of the gas, all the separate molecules.

Yeah, so they literally get these bits of brain and then burn them. And the game is to try to search for evidence of plastics in the gas that comes off. Oh, that's cool. So you take the smoke that you've created, you run it through a machine, that's the gas chromatographer, It separates and sorts all the different components of the gas, all the separate molecules.

And then the mass spectrometer weighs those molecules. And that helps scientists identify them.

And then the mass spectrometer weighs those molecules. And that helps scientists identify them.