The latest scientific research and how it relates to health
Micro plastics
1-30-2026 from P-SNAP: Scientific rigour and the dangers of microplastics
Reports of the death of micro plastics science were greatly exaggerated. On January 21, The Guardian published replies by Joe Yates, Prof. Phillip J. Landrigan, Prof. Jennifer Kirwan, and Prof. Jamie Davies to its January 13 piece questioning the validity of micro‑ and nanoplastics research.
Yates’ letter opened the series tartly. “While it may be a belated Christmas present for the petrochemical industry, your article was less surprising to the scientific community, where constructive debate around microplastic detection in humans has been ongoing for some time.” The other authors were more muted, but in agreement. “[T]here is work to be done in refining, standardizing and harmonizing the analytical techniques…” observed Phillip Landrigan, “But that does not mean this whole area of science is rubbish.” The field does indeed require rigor — as all scientific fields do — and over time will develop the standardized methods needed to make apples to apples comparisons between studies. In a scruffy new science, however, some degree of contradiction is inevitable and even desirable among researchers, who are of necessity examining the subject matter from a variety of angles. “
1-17-2026 This sensationalist headline appeared in The Guardian: “Some scientists say many detections (of micro plastics) are most likely error.”
1-14-2026 Micro plastics bioaccumulate in the brain. There are parallel trends happening: 1. rising levels of microplastics 2. increasing global rates of age-corrected Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.
Researcher Douglas Main states, “Microplastics are infiltrating brain tissue, studies show: ‘There’s nowhere left untouched’” The Guardian, Aug 21, 2024.
Teenagers and Risk Factors
9-2011 A survey of more than 2,000 American teens from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that those who have infrequent family dinners — fewer than three per week — are almost four times likelier to use tobacco and are more than twice as likely to use alcohol or marijuana compared with teens who have five to seven family dinners each week. They’re also nearly four times as likely to say they expect to try drugs in the future.