Your Body May Be Full of Plastic
Microplastics, tiny plastic particles between 1 nanometer and 5 millimeters in size, are much more ubiquitous than we realize. In 2022, it was discovered that people have microplastics in their body and it was found that 4/5 of the people tested had microplastics in their blood. It is unclear what these tiny plastic particles mean in terms of long-term health, but some studies suggest there are links to inflammation, metabolic disruptions, dementia, immune issues, and possibly heart disease.
The New England Journal of Medicine in 2024 found that an analysis of plaque in patient arteries found high levels of microplastics, indicating they may be responsible for inflammation and systemic immune responses. Their findings suggest that low-level chronic exposures to microplastics may increase cardiovascular risks, however, direct evidence is not available. It is also been found that microplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier. An autopsy study showed that some deceased patient’s brains contained up to 7 grams of microplastics. That is about the weight of three pennies. One study found that microplastic concentrations were higher in the brains of deceased patients who had been diagnosed with dementia compared to individuals without dementia. Even more alarming, the concentrations of microplastic particles in brain samples have risen by roughly 50% over the last 10 years.
Microplastics are found to be widely distributed in soil, where they get into the water transport systems of plants – and then move to the roots, stems, leaves, and fruits. From there they get into animals, into the meat and vegetables we eat, and into us. The digestion processes of animals and birds tend to break down any plastics they might eat into microplastics. Ingestion is the main pathway of human exposure to microplastics, as they are found in our drinking water, bottled water, seafood, salt, sugar, tea bags, milk, meat, vegetables, fruit, and other foods. We also inhale microplastics as the particles are small enough to float in the air and be blown around by the wind. They make up part of the particulates found in the air and have been detected indoors as well as outdoors.
Many of the microplastics come from foods and beverages that we consume. Superage.com has a list of foods and beverages that contain the most microplastics, and has helpful hints on how to avoid them. Bottled water can contain up to 10,000 particles per liter and even beer has been found to have up to 79 particles per liter. Tea that comes in plastic teabags, can release billions of microplastic particles into the cup of tea. Rice, apples, and carrots can have millions of particles per gram. Washing removes some of it, but many of the particles remain, showing that the microplastics are inside the food. Sea salt has been found to have as much as six particles per teaspoon and shellfish up to 11 particles per gram. That’s not surprising since there is so much plastic waste in the oceans, and saltwater, sunshine, and wave action break plastics down into microplastic particles.
Every year, millions of tons of plastic waste enter the oceans from land-based sources such as litter, industrial manufacturing, waste-water runoff, sewage plants, and improper waste disposal. Many of the microplastic particles in the ocean come from microbeads put in cosmetics, deodorants, and even toothpaste. The United States and several other countries have banned this practice, but many countries haven’t, and lots of particles had accumulated before the bans were enacted. Microfiber cloth, and other synthetic textiles, shed microfibers during washing, and those eventually end up in streams and oceans. Urban dust from wear and tear on tires and roads gets into streams or blows into the ocean. A major source of microplastics is the breakdown of single-use plastics such as shopping bags, plastic bottles, and plastic straws. Some cities have tried banning single-use plastics, but many state legislatures, influenced by oil company lobbyists, have tried banning the bans on single-use plastics.
If you live in an industrialized country, is almost certain that you already have microplastic particles in your body. And, you very likely will be accumulating more as time goes by as it is almost impossible to avoid them. Most filtration systems for water do not remove microplastic particles, and even the best systems do not remove particles less than 0.5 microns in size. Long-term studies have not yet been done to determine the health effects of microplastic particles, but there are many indications that there are major health risks involved. The best you can do now is to avoid microplastic particles as much as you can, and support actions that keep plastic waste and microplastic particles from entering the environment.
(c) 2025 J.C. Moore
Tags: blood-brain barrier, cardiovascular risks, dementia, filtration, health risks of microplastics, micro plastics in water, microbeads, Plastic microparticles, single use plastics
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