I was in a group discussion while attending the doctoral completion program at ACTCM, when a colleague raised the topic of a then-recently published paper concerning researchers finding microplastic in human placenta (Ragusa et al., 2021). The colleague wondered what kind of zhèng qì could deal with something like that. Indeed, the finding was alarming, and subsequent studies have only added to the picture of the pervasiveness of plastic accumulation in our bodies.
Thus it was with some interest that I read a paper published last month (Nihart et el., 2025) concerning findings of nanoplastics (particles smaller than microplastics) in brain tissue samples from autopsies spanning an eight-year period. Taken together, micro- and nanoplastics (MNP) have been located in organs such as the lung, intestines, and placenta in sizes of greater than 5 nanometers, and smaller particles have subsequently identified in tissue samples of blood vessels, livers, kidneys and brains taken from deceased people.
The study by Nihart et al. (2025) compared decedent brain tissue from autopsies performed in 2016 and 2024. Overall, tissue samples from 2024 had significantly higher levels of MNP than those from 2016; between the two sample sets, the MNP accumulation increased 50% from 2016 to 2024, suggesting increasing environmental exposure during that time. When compared to tissue samples from the liver and kidney, the specimens taken from the brains of the deceased showed higher levels of MNP than those from the other organs by 7-30 times. A cohort of the autopsies identified as dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients had 3-5 times higher levels of MNP than the other brain samples tested. The plastic particles found in the brain were small, and the most common plastic found in all tissues was polyethylene (PE). The mechanism by which plastic enters the brain is yet unknown, though the lipophilic nature of plastics may play a key role as the brain is more permeable to lipid-soluble compounds (Hé et al., 2020). One curious finding from Nihart et al. (2025) was that the researchers found no correlation between age of the subjects at death and the accumulation of MNP in their organs.
Fabiano et al. (2025) referenced Nihart et al. (2025) in their discussion of MNP in the human body. They noted that the human brain contains “a spoon’s worth of microplastics” – meaning enough plastic to make a disposable plastic spoon - with much of it accumulated in “cerebrovascular walls and immune cells”. Noted also was the ever-increasing risk of environmental exposure. MNP are pervasive, carried by wind and water; found in the deepest seas and the highest mountains. The authors made recommendations on reducing exposure, through avoidance of plastic bottled water and plastic food storage containers, not heating plastics in the microwave oven, limiting intake of highly processed food, and using HEPA air filters. However, they noted the possibility that the body may be able to eliminate at least some of its MNP accretion:
“One of the most hopeful aspects of the findings to date is the lack of correlation between age and microplastic accumulation, suggesting that despite ongoing environmental exposures, the body has mechanisms to clear these particles over time through sweat, urine, and feces.” - Fabiano et al. (2025)
There, it appears, would be the zhèng qì at work.
Clearing the body
In studies done with fish, it was found that it took around 70 days to clear about 75% of MNP in the brain (Fabiano et al., 2025). To do this would take a prolonged and profound decrease in intake as well as a significant increase in output. So how might the body begin to shed its plastic burden?
A paper published in 2012 (Genuis et al., 2012) provides some idea about the mechanism by which the body may clear MNP. The researchers focused on bisphenol A (BPA), a component of many plastic products used every day. It has been in use since the 1950s and by the 1990s it was found to have an unfortunate tendency to leach; by now, the authors estimate that almost everyone (91-99% of population) has detectable levels of BPA.
BPA, according to Genuis et al. (2012) has been postulated to cause “endocrine disruption, epigenetic modification, cytokine release, and oxidative stress.” It can affect synthesis of hormones such as estradiol and testosterone, leading to a host of reproductive system dysfunctions. In terms of epigenetics, it is associated with elevated cancer risks, especially breast and prostate cancer. BPA, like most plastics, is lipophilic, accumulating in fat at 3 times the amount found in other tissues; it has been shown to elevate adipogenesis in female animals, and is suspected of contributing to childhood obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, neurocognitive and developmental dysfunctions, and more. It is difficult to adequately measure total body burden as distribution of BPA between tissues and body parts (even between adipose tissue in the brain and abdomen, for example) can vary considerably.
The research in Genuis et al. (2012) consisted of a small study of 20 subjects. 10 of the subjects had some form of chronic disease, and 10 were in full health. Each gave a sample of sweat, blood and morning urine. Blood and urine were collected the same day, and sweat was gathered within one week of the other samples. 16 of the 20 subjects had BPA detected in their sweat, with 4 of those having no other detectable levels of BPA in their urine or blood. Only 2 subjects had detectable blood levels of BPA. The concentrations in sweat were significantly higher than those found in urine. The findings suggest that BPA accumulated in adipose tissue (fat), and is excreted through sweating. Their conclusion was that “induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of BPA.”
Induced sweating
So, from the small amount of data we have, sweating seems the most efficient route for the body to clear MNP. Sweating can be induced by exercise as well as sauna, which were the two methods the subjects in Genuis et al. (2012) used to produce their samples. But the connection between the brain’s MNP load and sweating also suggested to me the involvement in Chinese medicine terms of xuánfǔ, which I have recently written about. Xuánfǔ originally referred to the body’s sweat pores, but took on a much broader meaning over time, linking all of the structural, functional, and spiritual aspects of the human form through an extensive microstructural network. So I dug a little deeper into the concepts of the xuánfǔ of the brain in particular.
Return to the Mysterious
Xuánfǔ is the pathway of the spirit mechanism and the smallest structural unit of the body identified in TCM. While every part of the body has its own network of xuánfǔ, the structure and function of the brain’s xuánfǔ is notably similar to that of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) (Hé et al., 2020; Wú et al., 2025). Both are channels allowing entry of vital substances and exit of turbid or toxic evils.
Wú et al. (2025) frame the brain’s microstructure as that of a complex of “xuánfǔ-nǎoqiào” [玄府－ 脑窍] , “mysterious house and brain orifices”. The nǎoqiào is a term which can include both the sensory orifices and the spirit orifices. The complex includes not only the brain marrow xuánfǔ, but the meninges and brain vasculature including the network vessels. It enables communication between the sensory orifices and is a pathway for the spirit mechanism (shénjī). The authors also postulate that the nǎoqiào has the important characteristic of taking on evil [受邪] for the brain, in much the same way as the pericardium takes on evil for the heart. The brain is high in the body and protected by layers of meninges and hard bony structure, making it difficult for evil qì to enter. Thus any evil that is able to penetrate does so through these tiny orifices, the xuánfǔ which are connected with the brain orifice (nǎoqiào). If there is disharmony between the xuánfǔ and nǎoqiào, evil will be allowed to enter the brain marrow.
“The functional relationship between xuánfǔ and nǎoqiào is too close to be separated. Xuánfǔ facilitates the qì mechanism, transports and distributes the liquids and humors, permeates and irrigates essence and blood, and operates the spirit mechanism; nǎoqiào stores essence and marrow inside, fosters the spirit mechanism, and serves as the gateway to the brain, links the five senses, acts as the thoroughfare that conducts consciousness, and is the inner place of its exiting and entering. Both mutually regulate the exit and entry of the essence, qì, blood, liquids, humors, and provision and defend the operation of the spirit mechanism. The opening and closing of the xuánfǔ depends on the regulation of the nǎoqiào, this is the most significant link in the nǎoqiào’s regulation and control of the xuánfǔ’s function.” - Wú et al. (2025)
The authors point out that this concept is quite similar to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which serves as both a portal inward for nutrients and a portal outward to clear metabolites and neurotoxic substances, while keeping pathogenic substances in the circulatory system from entering the brain. The BBB is largely composed of microvasculature endothelial cells and the tight junction proteins that adhere those cells together and keep out the circulating toxins. If the BBB is damaged or degraded, it will not be able to keep these harmful substances from entering the brain.
Opening the portals
Since the BBB only selectively permits substances to enter the brain’s microenvironment, getting drugs and natural medicinals in can be a challenge. Wú et al. (2025) specifically discuss treating drug-resistant epilepsy, but the principles may carry over to any encephalopathy: use guiding medicinals to open the portals of the xuánfǔ-nǎoqiào complex. The category of aromatic orifice-opening medicinals is uniquely suited to this role. They unblock and open, excel at arousing the spirit and restoring consciousness, and are effective at resolving endogenous phlegm and toxins, to transform turbidity and repel foulness – they help clean out the brain’s microenvironment, in other words.
One example given by Wú et al. (2025) is bīngpiàn [borneol]. Běncǎo Gāngmù [Compendium of the Materia Medica] by Lǐ Shízhēn (1518-1593) says that bīngpiàn "unblocks all orifices, and scatters depressive fire [通诸窍，散郁火]”. The Běncǎo Yǎnyì [Annotated Materia Medica] by Kòu Zōngshì (1119) relates that bīngpiàn "greatly unblocks and disinhibits heat blockage of the diaphragm gate; its clarifying fragrance makes it the first of the hundred substances. … Although it is an exceptional medicinal, as a single its power is weak, but it is effective as an assistant or courier. [此物大通利关膈热塞，其清香为百药之先。... 然非常服之药，独行则势弱，佐使则有功]" According to modern research, bīngpiàn, which has a low molecular mass but is highly lipid-soluble, has been shown to be effective in crossing the BBB, thus acting as a carrier agent for other medicinals to enter (Zhang et al., 2017).
Another example is shíchāngpú [Rz Acori Graminei]. The Shénnóng Bӗncӑo Jīng [Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic] says says “chāngpú... opens the heart cavity, supplements the five viscera, unblocks the five orifices, brightens the hearing and vision, and brings forth sounds [“菖蒲……开心孔，补五脏，通九窍，明耳目，出音声]." Modern research shows that shíchāngpú inhibits the expression of tight junction proteins, thus temporarily increasing the permeability of the BBB and allowing the herb to act as a carrier into the brain (Wú et al., 2025).
Opening the surface
In Lánshì Mìcáng [Secret Treasure of the Orchid Chamber, 1276], Lǐ Dōngyuán writes "only wind medicinals can rise to the top of the summit [巅顶之上，唯风药可到]". Wind medicinals, which are indispensable in unblocking the xuánfǔ, are known for their surface-opening, sudorific (sweat-inducing) qualities, and many are specific to treat the head. Chuānxiōng [Rz Chuanxiong] is a good example, as is gāoběn [Rx Ligustici], which enters the dū mài, or governing vessel, and thus the brain.
According to Wú et al. (2025), acrid medicinals can indirectly moisten by unblocking the xuánfǔ, thus freeing the micro-pathways to, as Líu Wánsù put it, "open and effuse depression binds, perfusing the qì and fluids [开发郁结，宣通气液]"; a good example of this is fángfēng [Rx Saposhnikoviae], whose nature is acrid, sweet, slightly warm, and is considered an “emollient among wind medicinals [风中之润剂]”.
Taken together, the functions of aromatic orifice-opening and acrid sudorific wind medicinals can promote circulation to the head, enter the brain, and through the xuánfǔ-nǎoqiào perfuse the brain marrow to help flush out toxic substances. Additionally, the surface-opening function of the wind medicinals promotes sweating, which we have seen is the most efficient route thus found for eliminating MNP from the body.
Reaching the brain with acumoxa
In thinking about ways to address the problem of MNP in the body as a whole, I am inclined to treat it much as a lurking pathogen, about which I have written quite a bit in the past. To summarize, the basic idea is to rectify the qì mechanism, and promote the outward expression of the pathogen toward the surface, combined with damp-draining and/or purgation, thus opening all available exits for the pathogen. Supplementation, phlegm-resolving and blood-moving strategies may also be useful.
Since the brain accumulates MNP at a higher quantity than other tissues, treatment strategies to reach the brain are also necessary. Wáng et al. (2025) provide an overview of acupuncture treatment for brain disorders. The brain as a curious organ has no channel of its own, though some channels do enter the brain and others connect indirectly. In addition, organs exert their influence through particular resonance with brain and marrow, or by improving the quality and flow of qì and blood generally. Then there are systems that treat body areas related to the brain, such as scalp acupuncture and auricular acupuncture.
Wáng et al. (2025) cite three of the fourteen channels that connect directly with the brain: dū mài, foot tàiyáng and foot yángmíng.
The dū mài transports essence to enrich the brain and governs the yáng qì of the body; all the yáng channels converge there to reach the brain. GV1 [chángqiáng], GV8 [jīnsuō], GV10 [língtái], GV12 [shēnzhù], GV15 [yǎmén], GV16 [fēngfǔ], GV17 [nǎohù], GV20 [bǎihuì], GV21 [qiándǐng], GV24 [shéntíng], GV26 [shuǐgōu] all have indications related to the brain. SI3 [hòuxī] can also be selected, as the master point for the dū mài.
Foot tàiyáng enters the brain from the top of the head as well as from the UB9 [yù zhěn] point via the eye connector. The UB channel connects with the heart and kidney and is an important linkage of those organs with the brain. Points with brain indications include UB8 [luòquè], UB9, UB10 [tiānzhù].
Foot yángmíng enters the brain through the eye connector. The stomach channel brain indications include mania and epilepsy. Channel points with relevant indications include ST40 [fēnglóng] and ST42 [chōngyáng].
Another relevant point that comes to mind is GB39 [xuánzhōng], the influential point for marrow, and extra point sìshéncōng, which I often use as a brain-fog treatment.
The brain itself is a lipid-rich environment; fully 60% of the brain is fat (Chang et al., 2009). This was recognized in Líng Shū 36:
五穀之津液，和合而為膏者，內滲入於骨空，補益腦髓，而下流於陰陽。
The liquids and humors of the five grains, when harmonious become gāo [fat], which inwardly permeates into the bone hollows, supplements the brain marrow, and flows downwards into yīn and yáng. - Líng Shū 36
Líng Shū 1 tells us that “the origin of gāo, comes out at jiū wěi [CV15] [膏之原，出於鳩尾].” Given the the lipophilic nature of plastics, dredging the gāo may also prove useful .
Conclusion
While the knowledge that plastic is accumulating in our vital organs (especially our brains) is alarming, little is yet known about the pathomechanism at work. Preliminary research suggests that the body – our zhèng qì – has ways of eliminating the pathogen, though much remains to be discovered. Sweating appears to be the most effective physiological response. The combination of MNP apparently breaching the BBB and its elimination by sweating brings to mind the involvement in Chinese medical terms of the xuánfǔ and related microstructures. Thus we speculate – and at this point, speculation is all we have – that opening the xuánfǔ along with the brain orifices and freeing the body’s natural routes of elimination may be of assistance in reducing the body’s micro- and nanoplastic burden.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading.
Note: This publication is for information purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please seek the opinion of a health care professional for any specific medical issues you may have.
References
Chang, C. Y., Ke, D. S., & Chen, J. Y. (2009). Essential fatty acids and human brain. Acta neurologica Taiwanica, 18(4), 231–241.
Fabiano, N., Luu, B., & Puder, D. (2025). Human microplastic removal: what does the evidence tell us? Brain Medicine. https://doi.org/10.61373/bm025c.0020
Genuis, S.J., Beesoon, S., Birkholz, D., & Lobo, R.A. (2012). Human Excretion of Bisphenol A: Blood, Urine, and Sweat (BUS) Study. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2012/185731
Hé, J., Hú, H., Zhōu, D., Wáng, X., & Lǐ, X.(2020). Study on the application of Xuanfu Theory in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. Asia-Pacific Traditional Medicine, 16(1), 181-183. doi:10.11954/Ytctyy.202001058
Líng Shū. (n.d.). https://jicheng.tw/tcm/book/%E9%9D%88%E6%A8%9E/index.html. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
Nihart, A.J., Garcia, M.A., El Hayek, E., Liu, R., Olewine, M., Kingston, J.D., Castillo, E.F., Gullapalli, R.R., Howard, T., Bleske, B., Scott, J., Gonzalez-Estrella, J., Gross, J. M., Spilde, M., Adolphi, N.L., Gallego, D.F., Jarrell, H.S., Dvorscak, G., Zuluaga-Ruiz, M. E., West, A.B., & Campen, M.J. (2025). Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03453-1
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Wáng, R., Zéng, H., & Liú, B. (2025). Discussion on the multi-dimensional pathways of acupuncture treatment for encephalopathy. Journal of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 41(2), 189-194. doi:10.14148/J.Issn.1672-0482.2025.0189
Wú, S., Wēn, Z., Zhōu, G., Wáng Y., & Yáng, X. (2025). Determining treatment for epilepsy based on the pathocombination of “xuánfǔ- nǎoqiào” [基于 “玄府－ 脑窍”合病论治癫痫] . Yúnnán Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 46(2), 26-30. doi:10.16254/j.cnki.53-1120/r.2025.02.003