Are microplastics really ruining our health?

October 29, 2025Last Updated: October 29, 2025

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Are microplastics really ruining our health?

By Kristin Houser | Published: 2024-11-23 16:00:00 | Source: Health – Big Think

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And in 2022, scientists found microplastics – pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long – inside the body. Human blood. Since then, they have been discovered throughout the human body, including the lungs, kidneys, livers, hearts and brains.

So, why do we have so much plastic, what does it mean for our health, and what can we do about it?

Living in a plastic world

Plastic is a wonder material. It is strong, lightweight, flexible, sterile and cheap, which has made it very popular – since the 1950s. Production levels The proportion of plastic has increased faster than any other material. We now produce 440 million tons of plastic each year, and the total continues to rise.

Line graph showing global plastic production from 1950 to 2019, with a sharp increase reaching more than 400 million tons by 2019.

Unfortunately, there is a big trade-off for all the benefits of plastic. And the matter is not limited to its production Bad for the environmentcontributes to global warming, but that’s how we deal with the material after we’re done using it: only about 9% of the world Plastic waste It is recycled, while 19% of it is incinerated. The rest goes to landfills (50%) or turns into garbage (22%).

Researchers have known Since the sixties Plastic waste used to be a problem, but the problem took a new form in 2004 when marine biologist Richard Thompson published paper In the journal Science, his team reported the discovery of microscopic plastic fragments and fibers in the ocean environment.

They called these pollutants “microplastics.”

“The fragments appear to have resulted from the decay of larger elements,” the researchers wrote. “Marine organisms ingest plastics of this size, but the environmental consequences of this pollution are still unknown.”

In 2024, Thompson led A.J New studyalso published in Science. This time, his team looked at 7,000 studies of microplastics that followed their 2004 discovery to find out what we now know about the pollutants — and the answer wasn’t great.

In 2004, @Professor Thompson He led the first ever study – published in @Science Magazine – to use the term #Microplastics To describe small plastic particles found in the marine environment. pic.twitter.com/izRUXzgoNn
– Plymouth University (@PlymUni) September 20, 2024

Not only has the amount of microplastics in the oceans increased over the past two decades, but scientists have also discovered the particles in many other places: in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the animals we eat, as well as hundreds of species outside our food chain. They have also been found in other foods we consume Vegetables to ice cream.

As for where all these microplastics come from, Thompson’s team was right that much of it was once part of larger pieces of plastic. Polyester clothing and Industrial rubber tires They have been shown to be particularly large sources of microplastics in the environment. The tiny plastic pellets used to make larger plastic products are a big contributor too – at various points in the supply chain, they can slip into the environment.

However, identifying microplastics and their sources was just the beginning. The main focus of the research was to identify impact From these particles, this led to more bad news.

“After 20 years of research, there is clear evidence of the harmful effects of microplastic pollution on a global scale.” He said Thompson in a press release about the new study. “This includes physical harm to wildlife, harm to communities and cultures, and a growing evidence base of harm to humans.”

Reducing microplastics

This evidence was enough to inspire officials in some places to take action to try to reduce the amount of microplastics in the environment.

In 2015, for example, Congress passed the bill Microbead-free water lawWhich banned the inclusion of microplastics in toothpaste, face wash and other products. Some states and cities have also banned certain single-use plastics, which can break down into small plastic particles once discarded.

These policies are not enough Significantly However, reducing the amount of microplastics in the environment – the most direct way to achieve this is for the textile industry and tire manufacturers Stop creating products With a lot of plastic.

“(We) cannot significantly reduce microplastic pollution without leadership from the textile industry and tire manufacturers to produce consumer products that do not add to the growing problem.” He said Mark Gould, executive director of the California Ocean Conservation Council.

They are huge global industries, however, and convincing them to change the way they operate en masse (or convincing governments around the world to force them to change) will not be easy, especially since we still just don’t know for sure. how Microplastics are bad for human health.

There’s no direct way to find out either.

“We know that these microplastics are everywhere. We don’t know if their presence in the body leads to a problem or not.”
Albert Rizzo

Because microplastics are everywhere, we can’t compare the health of people exposed to them with people who can’t determine their potential effects, so our real-world studies have no controls — which is already a big strike against them.

“Plastic” is also not just one thing. There are more than 13,000 different chemicals used in plastic production, which complicates matters further – how do we know which ones cause any health effects and should therefore be regulated or banned? There is no systematic testing of these chemicals in humans, let alone the countless potential combinations of them used in plastic products.

Scientists can—and have done—expose cultures of human cells to certain types of plastic chemicals and microplastics, and record how often the cells experience inflammation, DNA damage, or death. They have also conducted controlled studies on animals and recorded their effects, noting how exposure to certain levels of microplastics affects them Caused by mice To experience organ failure, develop immune disorders, and manifest Signs of dementiaAnd more.

Although these studies (and common sense) suggest that the presence of microplastics in our bodies may be harming us in some way, they do not prove it.

“Are plastics simply present and inert or will they trigger an immune response from the body that leads to scarring, fibrosis or cancer?” Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, National Geographic said “We know that these microplastics are everywhere. We don’t know if their presence in the body leads to a problem.”

Looking forward

Proving a link between microplastics and health issues can be a major challenge, but as Thompson points out, the evidence base on harm to humans is growing.

A He studies For example, the researchers, published in March 2024, analyzed plaques taken from clogged heart arteries of about 300 people with heart problems, and found microplastic particles in about 60% of the samples. People who had microplastics were 4.5 times more likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die within 34 months of plaque removal surgery, compared to those without.

This association does not prove causation. It is possible that people who become ill for other reasons also eat or retain more microplastics, which is what the study observes. But the finding is certainly consistent with the exacerbation of health problems due to microplastics.

However, we don’t have to wait while researchers work to unravel the relationship between microplastics and human health to begin alleviating the problem.

“No one is saying there is no safe way to use plastics.”
Richard Thompson

We already know that plastic waste in the environment, both large and small, exists Killing wildlife, Degraded ecosystemsand generally just making the world a worse place, and Tire wear particlesWhich includes plastics as well as a host of other unpleasant materials, and has long been known to be a major source of pollution.

To combat this, some people evolve better Plastic recycling technology And sustainable Plastic alternatives. Others Collection and recycling Plastic waste already present in the environment and take the necessary steps to do so Prevent new waste from reaching it.

These solutions are still relatively small in scale, but in 2022, UN members will have to… committed To develop a legally binding agreement aimed at ending plastic pollution. This agreement Expected to include Concrete plans to reduce plastic production, phase out particularly problematic plastics, redesign products that produce large amounts of microplastics, and more. A United Nations committee will meet in South Korea in the week of November 25 to Finalize the draft From the agreement.

“Nobody says there’s no safe way to use plastics,” Thompson said Yale told Environment 360. “It’s just that we need to start making it safer and more sustainable than we have done so far, and that’s what the treaty needs to help us do.”

this condition Originally published by our sister site Freethink.