You've probably heard that microplastics are floating in our oceans and air, accumulating in our soil. They’ve even seeped into the food chain. Microplastics are everywhere.
It was during World War II that plastics emerged as a military superstar, used for everything from parachutes, to airplane windshields. After the war, manufacturers realized that plastics could do just about anything — and cheaply. The plastic age took off with factories churning out all plastics, all the time – from car parts to Hula Hoops.
Today, we are living the aftermath.
My personal concern about microplastics turned into a mega-worry when earlier this year, researchers reporting in the journal Nature Medicine, found that microplastics have landed in our brains! They are setting up home there at a head-spinning rate: over the past eight years, the concentration of microplastics in our brains is thought to have increased by more than 50%, amounting to more microplastics than are found in any other organ.
Wait, other organs? Yes, they’re also found in the kidney, liver–even testes.
Microplastics are teeny bits of plastic polymers, often smaller than a grain of salt. Even smaller, up to 10,000 times smaller, are nanoplastics - completely invisible to the human eye. It’s these, suggest researchers, that more easily slip into our cells and tissues.
Just because microplastics and nanoplastics have entered our bodies, does that mean they pose a danger? It certainly doesn't sound benign. But this is a new area of research, so it’s hard to know just yet. One recent review in Frontiers in Public Health suggests that micro and nanoplastics may be associated with inflammation, a classic trigger for health problems throughout the body.
Microplastics leach from plastic bottles, plastic wraps and containers, cosmetics, toys, even polyester clothing. And surprising to me: dental floss. Some brands are coated in Teflon. Another surprise: microplastics leach from ultra-processed foods, probably because of plastic coatings in the processing machinery.
If you want to protect yourself, it’s not entirely hopeless. Micro and nanoplastics are more likely to leach during heating, freezing, and with friction. Some practical tips:
- Avoid drinking from plastic bottles, especially those that have been sitting in the sun.
- Don’t microwave or otherwise heat food in plastic.
- Keep plastics out of the dishwasher.
- Wear less polyester clothing, or at least wash them in cold water.
- Look for dental floss that states that it’s free of the chemical PFAS.
- And consider your diet: steer clear of ultra-processed foods. Always a good idea anyway.
