How to eat and drink fewer microplastics, according to experts

Microplastics are in your liver, blood and even in your brain, and they’re almost impossible to avoid. Photo / 123rf

Scientists are finding microplastics throughout the human body. Here are some simple strategies to limit your exposure.

Microplastics are everywhere. They’re in your liver, blood and even in your brain, and they’re almost impossible to avoid. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to minimise your exposure.

“This really is a public health crisis that people are just generally not aware of,” said Sherri Mason, a freshwater and plastic pollution researcher at Gannon University in Pennsylvania. People can limit their exposure by acknowledging the plastic in their routines and finding ways to reduce usage, she said.

A new commentary released on Tuesday in the journal Brain Medicine identified key ways to cut down on microplastics. Nicholas Fabiano, the article’s lead author, said that given recent studies, “We don’t know a lot of what the downstream consequences of these microplastics are, but we do have emerging evidence that it’s certainly not beneficial.”

Here are five ways to reduce your exposure in what you eat and drink.

Microplastics can be found in tap water, but in smaller amounts. Photo / 123rf

Drink tap water

Drinking bottled water could introduce you to thousands of microscopic pieces of plastic. In fact, bottled water is the biggest pathway to microplastic exposure, Mason said.

Researchers have found that an average litre of bottled water contains about 240,000 plastic particles, most of which are nanoplastics, measuring just a fraction of the width of a human hair.

Switching from bottled water to filtered tap water has the potential to reduce microplastic intake. Microplastics can also be found in tap water but in smaller amounts.

Boiling and filtering water can help remove up to 90% of plastic particles in drinking water, but experts warn it could also increase the leaching of toxic chemicals into the water.

“Most people in the United States don’t need to drink bottled water. Tap water is safer and more regulated,” Mason said.

Avoid plastic food containers

Using plastic is often unavoidable, but there are many ways to reduce your food’s interaction with plastics, and that includes plastic storage containers, said Jane Muncke, managing director and chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging Forum, a research organisation.

Experts urge people to replace food that comes in plastic containers with alternatives. That could be as simple as buying peanut butter in a glass container.

“Anything that’s packaged in plastic – there are microplastics that are shedding off of those materials,” Mason said.

Canned food and beverage cartons are another plastic contamination pathway for humans. Cans are often lined with plastics that can shed microplastics and leach harmful chemicals.

Microwaving food in plastic containers and reusable food pouches could release millions of microplastics. Photo / 123rf

Use glass in the microwave

One study found that microwaving food in plastic containers and reusable food pouches could release more than four million microplastic and two billion nanoplastic particles per square centimetre in just three minutes.

Heat causes microplastics to migrate, Muncke said, so avoid putting hot food into plastic packaging and make sure that it’s not stored in sunlight or other warm environments. Other factors that could increase leaching are acidic products, like orange juice and other fruit juices, and fatty foods, she said.

Avoid highly processed foods

Highly processed foods contain significantly more microplastics than minimally processed foods. One study found microplastics in all 16 protein products that researchers sampled. Of the products tested, breaded shrimp had the highest concentrations of plastic particles. Highly processed chicken nuggets contained 30 times as many microplastics per gram as chicken breasts.

“As a rule of thumb, the more processed or ultra-processed the food is, the more micro-nanoplastics will be issued,” Muncke said.

Microplastics could also be hiding in your spice cabinet. One 2023 study found large quantities of plastic in salt. The study analysed seven salts including table salt, sea salt and Himalayan pink salt. Each salt had some measurable amount of microplastics, but coarse Himalayan pink salt and black salt had the highest concentration of microplastic fragments. Iodised salt had the lowest.

Nylon tea bags are made out of plastic. Photo / 123rf

Ditch the plastic tea bags

Nylon tea bags, which are made out of plastic, can release more than 11 billion microplastic and three billion nanoplastic particles in a single bag.

Brewing loose-leaf tea is one way to avoid the problems associated with plastic tea bags. Tea bags made from cellulose, a biodegradable material, are far safer than plastic and have the added benefit of helping the tea absorb other harmful materials like heavy metals.