Plastic in Your Lungs Are Ruining Your Immune System - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

Inhaling microplastics disrupts your lung’s immune defenses within 24 hours by disabling macrophages, the cells that normally clear out pathogens and waste
Once inhaled, plastic particles travel beyond your lungs and accumulate in your liver, brain, kidneys, and colon, raising your risk for inflammation and chronic disease
Your body’s immune cells cannot break down microplastics and instead hold onto them, causing ongoing immune dysfunction and toxic buildup
Researchers are now working to identify early warning signs of microplastic-induced lung damage, including biomarkers that signal rising cancer risk
You can lower your daily exposure by filtering your air and water, switching to plastic-free kitchen tools and balancing related hormonal disruption with natural progesterone if needed

Transcript

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0:00.0	Did you know that within just 24 hours of inhaling microscopic plastic dust, the immune cells
0:05.9	in your lungs can become so clogged they stop working altogether?
0:10.3	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy to listen
0:14.8	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required.
0:19.3	Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the
0:21.7	latest health insights. I'm Ethan Foster, and in today's episode, we're examining cutting-edge
0:27.9	research that reveals how inhaled microplastics rapidly disable your lung defenses and then
0:33.3	migrate throughout your body. And I'm Alaris Guy. We'll unpack what the latest study found,
0:39.1	explore why impaired lung immunity matters for your overall health, and share five evidence-based
0:44.3	moves you can make right now to slash daily exposure. Let's set the stage with the study presented
0:50.1	at the 2025 American Therassic Society International Conference by University of Pittsburgh
0:56.2	scientist Adam Soloff. His team exposed mice to airborne microplastic fragments, mimicking
1:02.6	typical indoor concentrations, and then tracked changes in their pulmonary macrophages.
1:08.4	Pulmonary macrophages are your lung sanitation crew. They patrol air sacks like
1:13.4	tiny janitors, engulfing bacteria, pollutants, and dead tissue in a process called phagocytosis.
1:20.5	When they function well, you stay resilient against infection, irritation, and inflammatory flare-ups.
1:26.9	After only 24 hours of exposure, those macrophages
1:30.9	could no longer perform phagocytosis. Microscopy showed the cells gripping plastic shards
1:36.2	they couldn't digest, turning them into dysfunctional storage lockers instead of active defenders.
1:42.0	Soloff described the effect as major immune suppression.
1:45.0	The surprise wasn't just how fast damage appeared, but how stubborn it proved to be.
1:50.0	Even when exposure stopped, the macrophages remain jammed with plastic debris, unable to resume their normal cleanup duties.
	...

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