I haven’t fact checked this, but I sure hope it isn’t true:
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Well, by reading the linked article, it is true I would say: Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains | Nature Medicine But I think there isn’t a correlation between sold FDM printers and microplastic concentration in the human body 
But who wonders, plastic is everywhere
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It’s a thing. A very serious thing. I’ve seen it firsthand, the following is my short writeup I use for comments on articles to hopefully educate and garner more attention to the terrible future coming for everyone’s kids. I wish I would have been on better terms with my father as I would bet I would have seen the degradation of the sponge and maybe could have saved his mind if not a little more time with him on this Earth. This is my father’s lament…
Some of what we’re seeing now isn’t neurological. It’s primarily mechanical, secondarily cascading/chemical toxicity from microplastics. This includes polyester and polyurethane, as I’ve seen firsthand what an accelerated dosing (PE/PU) does to the human body as I witnessed my father’s decline from using a Philips CPAP over 8 years which had a PE/PU piece of foam that degraded and was inhaled. He went from absolutely fine to staring off, unresponsive, upright vegetable. Next time you’re at the store, look at how 95% of clothes are now polyester. Every time you wash them microfibers are born, then you inhale at some point… My dad never even received the tau protein tests, though healthy individuals have been found with elevated tau proteins as well. He got put on anti-alzheimer meds with zero tests. Get rid of your polyester, non-cotton clothing. Mark my words. Remember, it’s called PRACTICING medicine.
It’s only until it’s paid attention to do most humans consider it important. Every time you “smell filament” printing, it’s you, inhaling particulates.
Even despite this, uneducated individuals will scream “there’s no proof”.
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They only recently developed a dependable way to separate the plastics from aqueous solutions and biomatter iirc. Unless he died within the last 6 months or so?
Does this mean my brain eventually will not be bio-degradable?
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It means that zombies will eventually become an endangered species because they won’t be able to digest the brains they eat for what ever nutrients zombies need. The zombies will have to mutate in order to handle it or perish!
Edit: Comeing to a direct to Blu-ray near you
It could still biodegrade. It’s just that afterwards there will be roughly 7g of plastic particles where it once was. Allegedly growing at 6% annually while you’re still alive. I suppose the good news, if you want to call it that, is that it’s easy to quantify, so that means it will be easy to do studies on it, if there’s the motivation and the will to do so.
To visualize it, weigh out 7 grams of filament. It sure seems like a lot. Way more than I would want, anyway.
Maybe we could evolve a way to direct those microplastics where they could do some good. I have few joints that seem to be wearing out.
I’m ready, I have a few joints that feel 30 years older than the rest of my body.
I doubt whether microplastics are small enough to cross the blood–brain barrier. Even larger molecules can’t cross.
The blood–brain barrier restricts the passage of pathogens, the diffusion of solutes in the blood, and large or hydrophilic molecules into the cerebrospinal fluid, while allowing the diffusion of hydrophobic molecules (O2, CO2, hormones) and small non-polar molecules. Cells of the barrier actively transport metabolic products such as glucose across the barrier using specific transport proteins. The barrier also restricts the passage of peripheral immune factors, like signaling molecules, antibodies, and immune cells, into the central nervous system, thus insulating the brain from damage due to peripheral immune events.
- Wkipedia
Hmmm, I know AI is not good for anything but that’s the first hit produced:
Microplastics have been found in human brain tissue, raising concerns about potential health effects. Studies have shown that these particles, which are smaller than 5 millimeters in size, can accumulate in the brain, sometimes at higher concentrations than in other organs. The presence of microplastics in the brain, particularly in individuals with dementia, suggests a possible link between microplastic exposure and neurodegenerative diseases.
Apart from that one could could check what PFOS and PFAS means and does to the human and environment - and that’s plastic as well.
What people still fail to realise is that this is just one tiny part of a huge issue…
Plastics here, pesticides and insecticides there, contaminants everywhere…
And top of that all the advances and medicine providing us with drugs to deal with issues that where unknown just a few decades ago…
What do you think came first - the chicken or the egg?
Same philosophical question for our health.
What came first? The things that made us all sick or cumulative effect at a much later stage through changes in our environmental factors?
You have a really hard time finding a human in the modern world free from plastic and chemical contamination…
Just because the government won’t publicly disclose what they know for decades does make the problem go away…
If people would know what actually affects them they would get curious.
Once curious enough they would start to ask questions.
let them ask too many questions that remain unanswered and they will demand answers.
People making demands usually also tend to find more related issues which makes them ask even more questions.
So what better way to ensure a calm public than to make sure they won’t know too much about those things affecting them and why their government failed to protect them for the sake of corporations making billions?
The stuff getting into your brain and blood is largely from bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation is the reason we took extraordinary measures to remove DDT and tons of other persistant organic pesticides back during the 60’s.
The pa$t few decade$ have shown that modern regulation$ committee$ have forgotten the danger$ of bioaccumulation$, when it is convenient to forget it.
I’m not claiming to know the answer, but I do know that worldwide, fake plastics recycling industries are allowed to continue to operate, yet functionally dump the untreated waste into the ocean via 3 intermediaries. This is likely directly contaminating billions of people 100 times more aggressively than whatever is possibly happening in your 20W nozzle.
Who knows? Instead of speculating, wouldn’t it be better to take some lab animals, put their cages near a 3D printer that’s continuously printing an entire regime of different plastics for 2000 hours, and then see how much plastic found its way into their brains in comparison to a control group that’s raised in a clean room next to a 3D printer that’s only air printing without filament? Then we’d have at least an inkling of how we humans with this hobby might be getting affected? I’m only guessing, but it seems like it would be a fairly inexpensive trial to run, and we could have results in 3 months.
Not my wheelhouse, but maybe somebody reading this could get it launched. It could be a summer gig for a college student.
Been awhile since I’ve been on the forum…
Just an update from what I’ve read for studies.
Plastics are accumulating more in the brain than other organs.
Plastics are being integrated into cellular membranes (causing scaffolding for tau to hang up on-at least in the brain)
Plastics in the house sitting around leach compounds into the air over time.
Any plastics used with food/drink will result in particulates in the food/drink.
Yes, it’s a fact 3d printers release micro/nano plastic particulates. You still should all have your printers enclosed.
Oh, and a study by nyc in 2026, found that 90% of prostate tumors had 2.5x more plastic in the tumor tissues than surrounding “healthy” tissues.
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My dude, my teens to late 20’s did far more damage than any microplastic could. 
Lol, I’m sure it did damage, but plastics the body cannot break down. With cigarettes or whatever other inhaled things, the body can at least do things with them.
It’s like comparing a sink clog of food particulates to a clog of plastics. The food stuffs will go away or breakdown, the plastic, well, doesn’t.
My dad was turned into a vegetable by polyester/polyurethane inhalation from sponges breaking down in the philips cpaps. And it sucked.
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Maybe it’s both. Been breaking down the last few months.
We’ll be pooping out traces of plastic forever, quit now or go on. Started with the manufacturers in the 50’s and will roll on.
Not saying it’s good, just, well sayin…
I used to crap green when I worked at a fiberglass rolling job… All that did it was resin fumes. lol it was startling.
Tom Sanladerer mentioned he has developed a physical reaction to being in the same room as PLA being printed:
https://toms3d.org/2024/10/07/3d-printers-are-worse-than-i-thought-time-to-do-something-about-it/
which is surprising, because most people view PLA as one of the most benign.
Despite the hassle, I moved my printers to the garage. Still not the ideal solution, but at least it reduces exposure.