Microplastics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment. The nearly microscopic beads appear in products from plastic containers to clothing. Environmental and advocacy groups are raising concerns about early research on their impacts.
With so many products made of, or, packaged in plastic, Vermont Public Interest Research Group’s Alexis Drown shares a report with WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley about advising shoppers how to avoid microplastics during the holiday season and beyond:
At the end of the day, the goal is always to reduce the quantity and toxicity of plastic overall. And I think a lot of people already know that, you know, with plastic comes threats to the environment, to wildlife, to people. But, you know, it was really just in the last year or so then I think we became a lot more aware of how much these tiny pieces of plastic microplastics are a threat too. They've already been linked to diseases like Alzheimer's or dementia, cardiovascular problems like strokes, increased risk for certain types of cancer. So I think this is something that we definitely want to make sure people are aware of and there are some really simple strategies and practices that people can use to reduce microplastic exposure. So we wanted to make sure that we put some of those in this report.
Well, Alexis Drown, it seems like microplastics have become extremely ubiquitous and are so small they can get into everything. So how can you be sure that the pathways to products without microplastics actually don't have microplastics?
You're absolutely right. They are so small that they can be inhaled. They can be ingested. Something I mentioned in the report is a major study earlier this year found that today a human brain could contain an average of seven grams of microplastics. And for reference, that's the equivalent to the weight of an entire plastic spoon, you know, in our brains right now. That study also found that there was a higher quantity of microplastics in brains from 2024 compared to brains from 2016. So the reality is that anything that is plastic can be shedding microplastics. And while we can do some studies where we can tell that a certain amount of microplastics are coming off of certain items, anything that is plastic is breaking down into smaller pieces and can be getting into our environment, our air, our water and ultimately into our bodies as well.
When you did this report, what was the biggest surprise for you about microplastic sources?
The biggest surprise for me was actually the same thing that started our discussion about creating this report, which was tea bags. I personally am a big tea drinker, so I was pretty alarmed to find out that when my tea is, you know, steeping, that's releasing millions and billions of microplastic particles into something that I'm about to drink. And that was, you know, when I had the wow moment of, oh my gosh, do people even know that? What else do we need to be telling them about this problem? What other items are really important to identify right now to consumers?
What kind of regulations do we need to control the amount of microplastics that are out there?
That's an awesome question. The reality is, is that microplastics is not some isolated problem. It is part of this bigger problem of plastic pollution where we're producing hundreds of millions of tons of plastic every single year and then only recycling, you know, less than 10% of that. So our ultimate goal is to find ways to stop the problem from its source. We want to hold the industry and producers accountable. Less plastic means less pollution. That also means less microplastics. So, you know, we want to require producers to cut down on the plastic they can produce, the chemicals they can put in those products. Ultimately, it's really stopping the problem at its source and that will trickle down to less microplastic pollution. What our report has is a lot more of those numbers and those tangible statistics that can feel pretty alarming. I think it also dives a lot further into alternatives and into what the problem is.
How would you rate the average person's awareness about microplastics?
I actually think people are very aware that there is a problem and it has something to do with microplastics. I think what people are really wondering is, what do I do next? And that was something we were hoping to achieve with this report. I mean, we want consumers to feel empowered to make sustainable purchasing choices and shift away from plastic when they can. But at the end of the day, you know, this is also a systematic problem. There's a very powerful industry pushing against the real solutions and so what we really want to do is hold them accountable so we can create those real, tangible policy changes that will actually cut down on the production of plastic to begin with.
VPIRG’s report “Tis the Season for Less Plastic” is available on their website. A companion report released last year is also posted on the website.
