My blood contains on average about 190 microplastic particles per milliliter. I know because he made me understand. Yael CohenCEO Clarify Clinic. According to her, it is not (yet) a low level, but it still means “about a million particles in the circulatory system”. Disturbing, isn’t it? Clarify Clinic is one of those luxury facilities in the heart of London that offer blood cleansing from microplastics and other substances considered toxic. The cost? It starts at 9.750 pounds, about 13.000 euros. An astronomical figure for a treatment based on scientific evidence that is at the very least questionable. But this does not stop 10-15 people a week from crossing the threshold of the clinic.
The new frontier of luxury detox
In the basement of a clinic just off Harley Street (a London street famous for its private clinics and wealthy clientele), wealthy people relax in comfortable armchairs while their blood is drawn, filtered and reinfused. It is not a conventional medical treatment, but the latest trend in body “purification”. The process takes about two hours, the time needed to treat 50 to 80% of the plasma volume. The procedure is simple: blood is drawn through a cannula, separated into plasma and cells, filtered through a column that is supposed to trap microplastics and other unwanted substances, and then reintroduced into the body.
“Once the process starts, you don’t feel anything. It’s very comfortable,” he assures. Cohen. Patients make calls, participate in Zoom meetings, watch movies, sleep. “The ones who sleep are my favorite,” confesses the CEO. And why do they come? The reasons vary: some suffer from chronic fatigue, others from “brain fog” or long Covid. The clinic also offers targeted treatments for people taking weight-loss drugs similar to Ozempic, those trying to conceive, or those who want to prevent dementia.
Cleaning Blood from Microplastics: Science or Hype?
What clarify sells It is the hope of alleviating symptoms by ridding the blood of microplastics or other potential contaminants such as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl) and pesticides. But the science on the health effects of microplastics is still far from conclusive. A WHO report 2022 concluded that there is not yet enough evidence to determine whether they pose a risk to human health. We do not know whether microplastics are safe (I would say no, but you can't think with your nose), but we also do not know the risks they could pose.
“It's the dose that makes the poison,” he explains. Frederic Béen, environmental contaminant researcher at theAmsterdam Institute for Life and Environment. “That’s why it’s important to determine precisely how many microplastics or other types of environmental contaminants humans are exposed to.”
Questionable methodology
There has been a wave of scientific studies that They traced microplastics in every corner of the earth's surface and inside our bodies, but very few attempt to clarify the impact they have on our health. An article Part 2022 found that microplastics were associated with damage to human cells, but did not examine actual health outcomes in living humans. A study Part 2024 found that people with microplastics in fatty plaque inside their carotid arteries had a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes than those without.
But the 2024 study didn’t establish any causal link between microplastics and health. It was only observational, so it couldn’t prove that the presence of microplastics caused the increased risk of death for some patients. There were also differences between the two groups studied: Patients with microplastics in their arteries were more likely to be men, have cardiovascular disease, and smoke. It could be that these factors (or another unknown influence) were actually causing the difference in risk of death between the two groups.
Contamination is everywhere
The same uncertainties apply when it comes to measuring microplastics. I wasn’t being particularly scientific when I took that blood from my fingertip. Plastic fibers from my clothing or packaging could easily have ended up in my sample, and the same goes for any sample analyzed, whether it comes from the environment or a human body. Well and her colleagues go to extremes to avoid contamination when they test blood samples for microplastics. All the equipment they use to take samples is plastic-free, the air in their lab is filtered, and they only wear cotton when working with samples. “What we do is make sure there is no plastic contamination, or as little as possible, because microplastics are everywhere.”
Blood cleansing, the new frontier of healthcare luxury
Most patients come to the clinic through word of mouth. “People talk about it, they discuss it,” he says. Cohen. Patients post pre- and post-treatment blood microplastic results online. We live in a world so saturated with plastic that it is difficult to measure microplastics accurately, let alone link them to health outcomes. But Cohen says his patients report increased energy levels or better sleep after trying the treatment.
Cleaning blood from microplastics is just the latest in a long line of treatments based on dubious evidence aimed at wealthy individuals concerned about their health. In the Bahamas, people are paying tens of thousands of dollars for stem cell injections with unproven benefits. The Longevity Influencer Bryan johnson He extolled the benefits of total plasma exchange, regularly removing plasma from the blood and replacing it with proteins and antibodies. And he's not the only one.
Is it science or just another fad for the rich? Probably a bit of both. In the meantime, who knows how many microplastics I ingested while writing this article.
