The paper opened an entire research field. Since then, more than 7,000 published studies have shown the prevalence of microplastics in the environment, in wildlife and in the human body. So what have we learned? In a paper released today, an international group of experts, including myself, summarise the current state of knowledge.

Evidence of microplastics, which are in everything from clothes to water bottles, has been found in human brains, researchers said.

Microplastics have been found in brain tissue above the nose, suggesting a likely passageway for microscopic plastic shards and fibers to enter the brain after already being discovered in nearly every organ in the human body, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Scientists in Brazil have found more evidence of microplastics infiltrating the human body. While it has been previously reported that microplastics were found in human brain tissue, this recent study discovered these tiny particles in the olfactory bulbs of the brain which are responsible for processing smells.

Microplastics can invade the olfactory bulb of the human nose, which transmits smells to the brain, a new study found.

However, the new study suggests that there's "a potential pathway for the translocation of microplastics to the brain" via the olfactory bulb, according to a team led by Luis Fernando Amato-Lourenco, of the Free University Berlin and Thais Mauad, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil.

Microplastics continue to be found in some concerning parts of the human body. A new study published Sept. 16 in the JAMA Network Open journal explains how microplastics in the human brain can affect an important part of our daily lives: how we smell.

Microplastics are inescapable. These miniscule plastic particles have been found at ancient archaeological sites, in freshly fallen snow on Antarctica, at the top of Mount Everest and deep in the Mariana Trench.

Our microplastics problem isn't going away. These tiny fragments of plastic pollution have previously shown up in our lungs, in ancient rocks, and in bottled water. A new study reveals the extent to which they're infiltrating the brain,