Brinda Desai1, Bhargav Makwana1, Jayashri Srinivasan1, Diana Apetauerova1, Sourbha Dani1, Siddharth Sehgal1, Oleg Yerstein1, Sumanth Khadke1, Ashish Kumar2, Khurram Nasir3, Rishi Wadhera4, Yixin Kong1, Ana Navas-Acien6, Gary Adamkiewicz5, Sanjay Rajagopalan7, Sadeer Al-Kindi8, Susan Moffatt-Bruce1, Sarju Ganatra1
1Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, 2Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Akron General, 3Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, 4Department of Health Policy and Management, 5Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 6Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 7Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, 8Center for Health and Nature and Department of Cardiology, Houston Methodist Hospital
Objective:
To investigate the correlation between marine microplastic levels in ocean water and the prevalence of cognitive, mobility, self-care, and independent living-associated disabilities in adjacent coastal counties.
Background:
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are recognized as emerging risk factors contributing to cognitive decline. However, the association between population-level marine microplastic levels (MMLs) and the prevalence of disabilities related to cognition, mobility, self-care, and independent living remains poorly understood. The study aims to investigate this association, exploring various proposed mechanisms for MNPs' impact on brain health and bridging the gap between environmental microplastic pollution and neurological disabilities.
Design/Methods:
In this cross-sectional study comprising 218 coastal counties in the United States, we compared the prevalence of cognitive disability, mobility disability, self-care disability, and independent living disability in counties with very high and low MMLs. Unadjusted and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) were computed using population-weighted quasi-Poisson regression across three different models to examine the relationship between disability prevalence and MMLs.
Results:
The mean prevalence of cognitive, mobility, self-care, and independent living disability was significantly higher in counties with very high MMLs (15.2%, 14.1%, 4.2% and 8.5%, respectively) compared to low MMLs (13.9%, 12.3%, 3.6% and 7.7%, respectively, p < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, counties with very high MMLs showed significantly higher adjusted prevalence rate (PR) of cognitive (PR: 1.09 [1.06, 1.12], p < 0.001), mobility (PR: 1.06 [1.03, 1.10], p < 0.001), self-care (PR: 1.16 [1.11, 1.20], p < 0.001), and independent living disability (PR: 1.08 [1.05, 1.12], p < 0.001) compared to those with low MMLs.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate a significant association between marine microplastic levels and the prevalence of cognitive, mobility, self-care, and independent living disabilities in the US coastal counties. Further research is warranted to explore the potential public health implications of microplastic pollution.
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.