A machine long used to treat dangerously high cholesterol may have an unexpected benefit. Researchers have found that blood filtration may also remove certain “forever chemicals” from the blood, while early evidence suggests it could help reduce some microplastic particles too. Here’s what the study found and why experts say it’s too soon to call it a detox solution. For decades, lipoprotein apheresis has been used to help people with extremely high cholesterol levels that do not respond to medication. During the procedure, blood is drawn from one arm, the plasma is filtered to remove harmful lipoproteins such as LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and the filtered blood is returned to the body. Now, researchers from Technische Universitat Dresden in Germany have discovered that this blood-filtering treatment may do more than lower cholesterol. According to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Health, the procedure also removed measurable amounts of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as “forever chemicals,” from patients’ blood. The researchers also found preliminary evidence suggesting that some microplastic particles may be removed, although they stress that much more research is needed.
Why PFAS And Microplastics Are A Growing Concern
PFAS are a large group of synthetic chemicals widely used in products such as non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, food packaging, firefighting foams, and industrial processes. They are called “forever chemicals” because they break down extremely slowly and can remain in the human body for years.
Studies have found PFAS in the blood of most people worldwide. Exposure has been linked to health concerns such as changes in cholesterol levels, immune system effects, liver damage, reduced fertility, and an increased risk of certain cancers.
Microplastics and nanoplastics have also become a major public health concern. Tiny plastic particles have been detected in human blood, lungs, placenta, and even brain tissue. While scientists are still investigating their long-term health effects, growing evidence suggests they may contribute to inflammation, oxidative stress, and other biological changes.
What Did The Researchers Find?
The study involved patients undergoing lipoprotein apheresis for severe cholesterol disorders. As expected, the treatment significantly reduced LDL cholesterol and along with inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and fibrinogen. The surprising finding came when researchers analysed blood samples for environmental pollutants. Testing showed that levels of several PFAS compounds. Depending on the laboratory and patient group, reductions ranged from around 25% to more than 70% for certain chemicals. Importantly, these compounds were also detected in the discarded filter material, indicating they had been physically removed from the blood.
What About Microplastics?
The findings on microplastics were less clear. Some laboratory techniques suggested reductions in certain plastic polymers such as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride after treatment. Another method found an average reduction of about 70% in nanoparticle counts, although the results were not statistically significant because only a few patients were studied. In an even smaller experiment involving just two patients, combining filtration with an additional adsorption device appeared to remove several detectable plastic particles from the bloodstream. However, the researchers caution that these findings are preliminary and require confirmation in much larger studies.
How Might The Treatment Remove These Pollutants?
The researchers propose what they call the “passenger hypothesis.” PFAS are known to bind to proteins and lipoproteins in the blood. Laboratory research also suggests that PFAS can attach to the surface of microplastics. The team believes these pollutants may travel through the bloodstream attached to lipoproteins or surrounded by a layer of proteins and fats.
If that is true, removing lipoproteins through apheresis may also remove the pollutants travelling with them. However, the authors emphasise that this mechanism remains a hypothesis and has not yet been conclusively proven.
Not A Detox Treatment
While the findings are encouraging, experts caution against interpreting them as evidence that blood filtration can “clean” the body of forever chemicals or plastics. The study included relatively small numbers of patients, with some experiments involving only two to four participants. It also measured pollutant levels immediately after treatment, making it unclear whether the reductions are sustained over time or whether pollutants stored in body tissues simply re-enter the bloodstream later. Most importantly, the study did not investigate whether lowering PFAS or microplastic levels leads to better health outcomes.
The study offers promising early evidence that lipoprotein apheresis, a treatment already used for severe cholesterol disorders, may also remove measurable amounts of certain PFAS chemicals from the bloodstream. Evidence for microplastic removal is much more limited and remains preliminary.
Larger, long-term clinical studies will be needed to determine whether this approach can meaningfully reduce the body’s overall burden of environmental pollutants and whether doing so improves health. Until then, the findings should be viewed as an important first step rather than a ready-made solution for removing “forever chemicals” or microplastics from the body.
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