Microplastics are defined as plastic particles less than five millimeters in length. There is growing health-related dissent among experts and researchers over their pernicious effect. And yet, researchers have found these minute particles everywhere from the lungs and heart to the human placenta. They are ubiquitous in blood, brain tissue, urine, and even breast milk. Dr. Cassandra Rauert, a leading researcher in the field, illustrates a main concern. Microplastics are entering the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. As the world grapples with the implications of these findings, scientists are calling for standardized testing methods to accurately assess their presence in human bodies.
Just last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on scientists to formulate standardized protocols to test microplastics inside humans. This initiative aims to better characterize the health risks microplastics could pose. It will improve our understanding of their impacts on human health. Increasingly, studies have shown that microplastics are entering human systems. We’re failing to grasp how extensive this contamination truly is and what it means for our health.
The difficulty is not just in detecting microplastics, but knowing what they are made of. Professor Oliver Jones, a chemist at RMIT University who studies environmental contaminants, notes that many different types of plastic exist, and researchers are still trying to quantify their presence in human bodies. In conclusion, he cautions against click-bait, fear-driven headlines. These headlines usually stem from experiments that subjected humans to unnaturally high doses of microplastics.
“What makes the headlines are studies that use really high doses we’d never encounter … But science doesn’t work on feelings or likes or vibes or whatever. It’s based on evidence,” – Oliver Jones
Dr. Rauert expresses similar concerns, highlighting the unknowns when it comes to what happens with microplastics after they’re swallowed. She explains, “So after we ingest them, can they then cross through the gut–blood barrier, get into our bloodstream? We still don’t have a good handle on that.” This uncertainty reaches how microplastics could interact with other chemicals in the body.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand recognizes the community concern regarding microplastics. They have maintained that the small amounts detected in food and beverage are not dangerous to one’s health. Meanwhile, Australia’s Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is currently reviewing recent research on microplastics to provide updated health guidance later this year.
Dr. Rauert highlights the fact that we need a better, more accurate way to measure microplastics in the human body. She states, “We don’t have a good measure of where it ends up in the body, and we don’t know the effects of that as well.” Additionally, she illustrates the way that additional, toxic chemicals are dumped into compounds during production. Further, these chemicals are susceptible to uptake from the environment by plastics.
“Additive chemicals are added during manufacturing, or plastics can pick up chemicals in the environment. So when you’re exposed to these plastics, you’re exposed to these chemicals as well,” – Cassandra Rauert
The alarm over microplastics is raising some red flags. Sadly, nanoplastics—particles smaller than microplastics—are even riskier since they are invisible to the naked eye. Researchers warn that the environmental health impacts of nanoplastics are still not understood. Due to their unimaginably minute size, these minuscule particles may be more harmful than we know.
Until we have definitive answers, Dr. Rauert recommends that you take steps to lower your exposure to microplastics. Our bodies are literally incapable of digesting these chunks of plastic. Reducing how much we eat and drink those microplastics are in is of course a good thing,” she says.
According to Professor Jones, manufacturers are currently only alone legally bound to test their products before bringing it to market. This regulatory structure is in place to protect consumers. Yet, doubts remain regarding how well these foundation-applied precautionary principles will advance efforts to head off the possible threats that microplastic pollution may pose.
“Manufacturers have to do [tests] by law to get their products on sale,” – Oliver Jones
Previous research has suggested potential connections between microplastics and a range of health effects, from infertility to overall toxicity. The data supporting these claims, though, Jones cautions, is not yet persuasive. He highlights that it’s not just one thing threatening our health. As we’ve seen with other prominent public threats, such issues are often afforded less public scrutiny.
“There’s plenty of things that are bad for us that we have on a daily basis that we don’t worry about,” – Oliver Jones
The global community is turning the tide on plastic pollution. They are taking action, including pushing for a global plastics treaty to address this urgent, overwhelming problem. This year, campaigners in Geneva were unable to secure the announcement of an agreement so far-reaching. This result highlights the challenges of addressing this insidious problem.
