How Microplastics Are Entering Our Bodies (and How to Avoid Them)

 How Microplastics Are Entering Our Bodies

A definitive guide to learning about microplastic contamination and keeping your health safe*

Each day, you consume plastic without even knowing it. Not intentionally, naturally, but through the minute pieces that have gone on to contaminate nearly every aspect of our surroundings. Small as they are, microplastics have gone on to become one of the most widespread environmental pollutants of the modern era, and new studies increasingly indicate that they pose serious threats to human health.

If you ever thought about how these intangible intruders are entering your body and what to do about it, then you're not alone. The increasing volume of scientific studies depicts a scary truth: microplastics are now found in human blood, organs, and even brain tissue with possible health effects that scientists are only just starting to realize.

What Are Microplastics and Why Should You Care?

Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter – about the size of a sesame seed or smaller. To put it in perspective, many microplastics are so small they cannot be seen by the naked eye, being smaller than the thickness of a human hair. They come from the degradation of larger plastic objects, synthetic clothing, personal products, and industrial activities.

As opposed to biodegradable items that break down on their own, plastic pieces remain in the environment for many centuries. They don't vanish – they aggregate. What makes this especially troubling is that these fragments have the potential to contain poisonous chemicals, both from their initial makeup and from chemicals they pick up from their surroundings.

The scale of contamination is staggering. Microplastics have been found in the deepest ocean trenches, atop the world's highest mountains, and in the most remote wilderness areas. They're in our food, water, and air, making exposure virtually unavoidable in modern life.

The Hidden Pathways: How Microplastics Enter Your Body

Knowledge of how microplastics enter your body is fundamental for creating preventive measures that are effective. People can be exposed to microplastics by oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure. Let's take a closer look at each route.

Food and Water: The Primary Gateway

The greatest source of exposure to microplastics occurs through what we consume and drink. Microplastics and nanoplastics can be found in food, largely due to environmental contamination where foods are raised or cultivated. Contamination occurs by various routes:

Seafood and Marine Products: 

Seaborne animals ingest microplastics directly from the seawater, and these particles are stored in their bodies. Fish, shellfish, and other sea animals are vectors, passing the microplastics from the food chain to humans.

Agricultural Pollution:

The origins of MPs in agricultural soils are primarily soil amendments application, plastic film mulch, fertilizer and pesticide packaging waste, wastewater irrigation, runoff, and atmospheric deposition. The particles are taken up by crops from their roots, and livestock ingest contaminated feed, resulting in food system pollution throughout.

Drinking Water: 

Tap and bottled water both have microplastics, but levels differ greatly by location and treatment practices. Even advanced filtration equipment doesn't catch all of the microplastic pieces, especially the very smallest particles.

Food Packaging:

 Plastic packaging, particularly when heated or holding acidic foods, can transfer microplastics into food directly. One-use plastic products such as bottles, takeout packaging, and food wraps are particularly dangerous.

Air and Inhalation: The Invisible Threat

This research uncovers the fact that humans are consistently being exposed to MP, and that the indoor environment and the water and food we consume play a crucial role in MP consumption. Microplastic particles are ubiquitous – in your office, home, and outdoor spaces. These particles get suspended in air through:

• Plastics degrading in sunlight and weather
• Wear and tear from car tires and roads
• Washing and wearing of synthetic clothing
• Industrial activities and waste management processes

Interior air tends to be more concentrated with microplastics than exterior air, mainly because of synthetic clothing, furniture, and carpets that continuously release microscopic fibers.

Skin Contact: A Less Publicized Route

Though less examined than ingestion and inhalation, dermal contact is another possible means of exposure to microplastics. Use of personal care products with microbeads, contact with soiled surfaces, and even atmospheric deposition onto skin are all contributing factors to overall exposures.

The Health Impact: What Current Research Reveals

Microplastic-induced health consequences are currently under study, but new studies reveal a worrying picture. The effects include oxidative stress, DNA damage, organ impairment, metabolic disorder, immune response, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity.

Cardiovascular Health Concerns

Current research has made some particularly disturbing links between microplastics and heart health. One study last year indicates that the presence of microplastics can possibly increase the chances of a heart attack or other cardiovascular issues in heart disease sufferers. The small plastics doubled the chance of stroke or heart attack. This discovery indicates the possibility that microplastics can lead to cardiovascular disease via inflammatory mechanisms and vascular injury.

Neurological and Cognitive Impacts

Most alarming is the detection of microplastics in brain tissue. Brain tissues contain higher levels of other polymers. Studies suggest that these particles can cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially responsible for neurological symptoms and cognitive impairments. Studies highlight the possibility of potentially severe problems, such as vascular disease, cancers, respiratory disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and dizziness and neurological symptoms.

Cancer and Cellular Damage

The link between microplastics and cancer risk is an open field of research. Cell culture, marine wildlife, and animal model studies show that microplastics induce oxidative stress, DNA injury, and gene expression changes, established carcinogenic mechanisms. Human research is still in its early stages, but the damage identified in cellular models in laboratory studies is of concern regarding long-term health impact.

Reproductive and Developmental Health

These chemicals are connected to numerous health problems including endocrine disruption, obesity, insulin resistance, compromised reproductive health, and cancer. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals from microplastics may disrupt hormone function and consequently have the potential to influence fertility, pregnancy, and childhood development.

Respiratory and Immune System Effects

Bioaccumulation of plastics in. problems, such as respiratory diseases like lung cancer, asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, neurological manifestations like fatigue and dizziness, inflammatory bowel disease and even gut microbiota disturbances. The immune response against microplastics can lead to chronic inflammation, which may be responsible for causing various health issues.

Practical Strategies to Reduce Your Exposure

Although total avoidance of microplastic exposure is not possible in today's world, you can highly lower your risk through strategic lifestyle modifications and educated decisions.

Kitchen and Food Safety

Select Glass and Stainless Steel:

 Substitute plastic food containers with glass or stainless steel ones. The two are free from chemical leaching or particle release into food, particularly when used at high temperatures.

Don't Heat Plastic: 

Never heat food in plastic, and don't place plastic in the hot dry cycle of a dishwasher. Heat speeds up plastic degradation and enhances particle discharge.

Filter Your Water:

Consider purchasing a good quality water filter that is microplastic-specific. Consider using filters with small enough pore size to trap these particles, usually requiring advanced technologies of filtration.

Limit Takeout and Processed Foods: 

Decrease intake of foods that come in plastic containers, especially hot food exposed to plastic for long periods.

Select Fresh Over Packaged: 

Go for fresh, locally produced food when convenient and carry your own reusable containers and bags while shopping.

Home Environment Optimization

Enhance Indoor Air Quality: 

Utilize air purifiers with HEPA filters to minimize airborne microplastics. Vacuum regularly using a HEPA-equipped vacuum cleaner, and opt for hard flooring as much as is practicable instead of carpets.

Natural Cleaning Products: 

In the home, I clean with baking soda and water or vinegar and water – those work just as well as products you would purchase on the market. A decent recipe is one part vinegar and one part water. That method minimizes exposure to microplastics in cleaning agents and the chemicals that could react with plastic surfaces.

Clothing Choices: 

Choose natural fiber clothing over synthetic materials when possible. When washing synthetic clothing, use washing bags designed to capture microfibers, and consider air-drying instead of using dryers.

Personal Care Products: 

Select cosmetics and personal care items free from microbeads and excessive plastic packaging. Many countries have banned microbeads in rinse-off products, but checking labels remains important.

Lifestyle and Behavioral Changes

Cut Single-Use Plastics: 

Bring reusable water bottles, shopping bags, and cutlery. Opt for products with little plastic packaging, and promote companies who support sustainable alternative packaging.

Be an Ally to Plastic-Free Causes: 

Shop with your wallet by choosing businesses that value plastic reduction and sustainable action. Consumer pressure influences industry action.

Be Informed: 

Stay current with new research and changing best practices for reducing microplastics. Science in this arena is moving very quickly, and new solutions are continually being invented.

The Future of Microplastic Research and Solutions

The scientific community is making concerted efforts to learn more about microplastic effects and implement effective strategies of mitigation. Other microplastic effects, including their link to lung and colon cancer and their impact on human reproductive, digestive, and respiratory health, are still being established. Such ongoing research will continue to identify further health links and guide more specific prevention tactics.

Technological options are also on the horizon. The BBC wrote about a method of removal that involves vegetable oil, iron oxide and magnets. After 5,000 trials, the method was 87% effective at removing microplastics from water. Such technologies hold promise for increased efficiency in water treatment and pollution remediation.

Taking Action Today

The microplastic epidemic is one of the greatest environmental health problems facing our generation. As much as the full picture of the health effects is still being studied, the evidence to date implies that taking proactive measures to minimize exposure is an astute investment in your long-term health.

The tips in this guide are not only about how to avoid microplastics – they're about building a healthier, more sustainable life for yourself and the planet. By choosing wisely about what you put on your skin, what you eat, and how you live your life, you can lower your microplastic exposure significantly and make a positive impact on larger environmental issues.

Remember, change doesn't have to be overwhelming. Start with one or two modifications that feel manageable, and gradually incorporate more strategies as they become habits. Every small action contributes to reducing both your personal exposure and the broader environmental plastic burden.

The future of our health and our planet is in the decisions we make today. By learning about the risks and acting proactively to limit exposure, you're not only doing it for yourself – you're part of the solution to one of the most critical environmental issues of our time.

*Stay up to date, stay healthy, and know that your actions count in the battle against microplastic pollution.*