Microplastics are everywhere — in our environment, in our food, and in the tissues of our body. Carolyn Kormann made some startling discoveries in a recent piece for New York Magazine, "There's a Spoon's Worth of Plastic in Our Brains. Now What?"
Kormann explains that New Mexico inhalation toxicologist Matthew Campen was helping his son with a school science project about plastic waste when they began collecting samples along the Rio Grande. The water they collected in jars contained microplastics, about the size of a grain of rice. These can eventually be broken down further then inhaled and ingested by humans. Campen's discovery led him to change the course of his career.
Particle toxicity in the body can cause inflammation and irritation. Several of the nearly 16,000 different chemicals that make up plastics act as endocrine disruptors, which are linked to a range of health problems, especially in children.
Where do all these miniscule shards of plastic come from? Larger plastic containers from laundry detergents, water bottles, and even yogurt containers that end up in the ocean are broken down by UV rays, sunlight, salt, and waves, which can belch back up into the atmosphere as part of the weather system.
Campen's brain study found that there are more traces of plastic in our brains than in our livers and kidneys. It turns out that plastics are attracted to fatty tissue. Campen says he doesn't do much to avoid plastics since they're everywhere but he recommends limiting your intake of fatty meats.
We can't avoid microplastics entirely, but Korman suggests drinking tap water, which can be filtered, as opposed to bottled water, and skipping soup cans, which are often lined with plastic.