7 Ways to Trim Microplastics from Your Life

Paul Spella Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

The more researchers look for microplastics in the human body, the more they find them. The tiny fragments are released when larger plastic items break down in the environment and when

they’re shed from plastic-containing packaging or materials during use. Increasingly, researchers are showing that microplastics can make their way into the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and

elsewhere.

What isn’t clear is whether they pose a health threat to people. Researchers reported recently that levels of plastic in the brain were higher in people who had dementia than in those who

didn’t, but they don’t know whether the plastic contributes to dementia risk or if changes seen in dementia make the brain more susceptible to microplastic accumulation.

In 2024, researchers found jagged microplastics and even tinier nanoplastics in the plaques in some people’s carotid arteries, and those people had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke or

death, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. In 2024, researchers published a review of evidence, mostly animal studies, that found exposure to microplastics is

“suspected” to harm human digestive and respiratory health, including a potential link to colon and lung cancer.

It’s “highly probable” that microplastics could harm human health, says Philip Kuriakose, M.D., a hematologist and medical oncologist at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit. “But it

hasn’t been fully proven yet.” The potential for health problems is particularly relevant for older adults, whose bodies are less able to repair the harm that plastics (and the chemicals

they may contain) can do to the body, Kuriakose says. Exposure to microplastics could exacerbate existing health problems that are more common with age, such as heart disease and possibly

vascular dementia, he says. 

Microplastics are everywhere – they’ve even been detected on Mount Everest – and it’s not practical to avoid them entirely.  “We’re never going to be able to eliminate plastic exposures, and

in some cases, we shouldn’t, because there’s a risk-benefit ratio for everything, and there are benefits of plastics,” says Douglas Walker, an associate professor in the Gangarosa

Department of Environmental Health at Emory University, who studies microplastics. “But I do think we should have mindfulness about our plastic use.” 

Here are some relatively easy lifestyle changes that can help reduce your exposure, the researchers say:

Plastic pollution accumulates in the environment – including the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. You can do your part by following Walker’s top recommendation: Choose

alternatives to the plastics you use once and then toss, such as plastic wrap, bags, cutlery and food and beverage containers, whenever possible.