Microplastics and our health: What the science says
Microplastics — plastic fragments up to 5 millimeters long — are inescapable. An estimated 10 to 40 million metric tons of these particles are released into the environment every year, and if current trends continue, that number could double by 2040
Stanford has published an insightful article: https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2025/01/microplastics-in-body-polluted-tiny-plastic-fragments.html
Public concerns over the health effects of microplastics are growing. In the past year alone, headlines have sounded the alarm about particles in tea bags, seafood, meat and bottled water. Scientists have estimated that adults ingest the equivalent of one credit card per week in microplastics. Studies in animals and human cells suggest microplastics exposure could be linked to cancer, heart attacks, reproductive problems and a host of other harms. Yet few studies have directly examined the impact of microplastics on human health, leaving us in the dark about how dangerous they really are.