There's so much of it there that you could make a plastic spoon, researchers from the University of New Mexico reported. Plastic was found in the bodies of people after death. In addition to the brain, it was also found in the liver, kidneys and other organs. Another alarming fact is the increased concentration of plastic in the brains of people who suffered from dementia.

Scientists are generally horrified. They don't yet know how plastic gets into the brain, what effect it has on mental health and cognitive abilities and, most importantly, how to remove this plastic from the body. But they do know that plastic releases more than a hundred harmful chemicals that can lead to infertility, cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

So far, researchers are urging governments to reduce the impact of plastic. But they are also warning ordinary citizens that it would be better to use less plastic tea bags (and kettles, probably), drink filtered tap water rather than bottled water, eat less seafood (it's full of microplastics) and avoid using plastic containers.