Rose Rimler

Yeah. And then... And then to get this idea of how much could possibly be in the whole brain, you've got to multiply it out.

Yeah. And then... And then to get this idea of how much could possibly be in the whole brain, you've got to multiply it out.

It could be. Yeah.

It could be. Yeah.

I'm going to tell you about that after the break.

I'm going to tell you about that after the break.

That's right. And even the people critiquing the study and other studies like it, they say that there probably is some plastic in our bodies. But right, we want to know how much. So there are other techniques that are used to look for microplastics in the body. They're not perfect, but some of the scientists I talk to think that they're more reliable.

That's right. And even the people critiquing the study and other studies like it, they say that there probably is some plastic in our bodies. But right, we want to know how much. So there are other techniques that are used to look for microplastics in the body. They're not perfect, but some of the scientists I talk to think that they're more reliable.

No, and literally, they don't use that technique. They basically shine a laser. This is very oversimplified, but it's a technique that uses light to identify molecules instead of what we talked about before. And they look for individual particles. And the most reliable papers that have used those kinds of techniques, they do report microplastics in different parts of the body.

No, and literally, they don't use that technique. They basically shine a laser. This is very oversimplified, but it's a technique that uses light to identify molecules instead of what we talked about before. And they look for individual particles. And the most reliable papers that have used those kinds of techniques, they do report microplastics in different parts of the body.

They have found microplastics in human lungs. They've also found microplastics in unhealthy livers from livers from people who have cirrhosis. But here's the thing. These studies that use these other methods, they report small amounts of plastic.

They have found microplastics in human lungs. They've also found microplastics in unhealthy livers from livers from people who have cirrhosis. But here's the thing. These studies that use these other methods, they report small amounts of plastic.

So for example, this one study that found microplastics in lung tissue, they reported an average concentration of less than one microplastic particle per gram of lung tissue. And most of these particles were smaller than a grain of sand. I know microplastics are small, but it still doesn't sound great? It doesn't sound great.

So for example, this one study that found microplastics in lung tissue, they reported an average concentration of less than one microplastic particle per gram of lung tissue. And most of these particles were smaller than a grain of sand. I know microplastics are small, but it still doesn't sound great? It doesn't sound great.

And it would probably be better if there weren't any, but it's not like the mass of cutlery, you know? Right. Right. And Oliver isn't freaked out by it. If we could collect all the microplastics and nanoplastics from our body and wad it up into one thing, what would it be? You can write that headline. What do you think?

And it would probably be better if there weren't any, but it's not like the mass of cutlery, you know? Right. Right. And Oliver isn't freaked out by it. If we could collect all the microplastics and nanoplastics from our body and wad it up into one thing, what would it be? You can write that headline. What do you think?

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

Which kind of makes sense, right? Because I don't know if you remember this, Wendy, but in our episode on microplastics, we talked about there was a stat that I got around that we eat a credit card's worth of plastic a week or something. Yes. In reality, the better paper that tried to estimate how much we eat, they found that it would take 23,000 years to eat a credit card's worth of plastic. Wow.

Which kind of makes sense, right? Because I don't know if you remember this, Wendy, but in our episode on microplastics, we talked about there was a stat that I got around that we eat a credit card's worth of plastic a week or something. Yes. In reality, the better paper that tried to estimate how much we eat, they found that it would take 23,000 years to eat a credit card's worth of plastic. Wow.