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In August’s article – It’s Raining Microplastics, Part I – I explored the scope of the microplastic predicament, including plastic’s ubiquity in our air, water, soil, and bodies. Eliminating exposure to microplastics and the chemical motley within is implausible, as microplastics know no boundaries; but there are simple steps each of us can take to reduce our individual exposure. We can start by minimizing microplastic ingestion via water and food, lessening microplastic inhalation in our homes, and choosing to curtail the plastics we purchase, wear, and interact with.
Not only are microplastics found throughout the human body – in organs, blood, breast milk, and semen – but they commonly contain toxic additives that are released into the body as the plastics break down. Carcinogenic chemicals including formaldehyde, heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and hormone disrupting agents like Bisphenol A (BPA) are routinely added to plastics to enhance durability and flexibility, provide stain or water resistance, or alter the color. When we ingest and inhale microplastics, we consume the chemicals therein. How can we reduce our consumption?
Water: Let’s begin by focusing on the water we drink. A 2024 Columbia University study supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) revealed an average of 240,000 tiny plastic particles within one liter of bottled water. By comparison, tap water sports an average of 5.5 particles per liter. To minimize microplastics, avoid bottled water!
Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor Washington state laws currently require tap water to be tested for microplastics. California paves the way; in 2022 it became the first state to mandate microplastic monitoring of drinking water. Perhaps Washington will follow! Though Seattle tap water remains unevaluated for microplastics, it is in compliance with the EPA’s federal guidelines which set limits on over 90 other contaminants. However, legal does not necessarily mean optimal. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) establishes more stringent health guidelines. Nine contaminants in Seattle Public Utility tap water exceed EWG guidelines, including eight potential carcinogens.
An activated carbon water filter in your home can help remove many remaining contaminants and microplastics after Seattle Public Utilities does a decent job removing most. Carbon block filters are more effective at removing microplastics than are granulated carbon filters (which are made of loose carbon particles that enable microplastics to more easily meander their way through and into your cup). As a bonus, carbon filtered water is decidedly delicious!
Home Health: Our clothes, furniture, and carpets are packed with plastics. As we move and play in our homes, minute fibers abrade off, floating into our air and settling on the floor. A HEPA air filter effectively removes most particles (including microplastics) larger than 0.3 microns. Unfortunately even the best filters are not as effective at removing the smaller nanoparticles, but they are a start. Perhaps begin with one in your bedroom.
Vacuums with HEPA filters likewise improve home health, sucking up microplastics that have settled on the floor. Regular vacuuming with a HEPA filter vacuum could be especially beneficial for infants and toddlers who spend extra time exploring at ground level, interacting with plastic-laden dust. In fact, a 2021 study found infant poop to be loaded with 10 times the polyester (a type of plastic) as adult feces. Go gadget vacuum!
Food & Drink Containers: Not only are children and adults inundated with plastics through the air and on the floor, but via food and drink. As the bottled water study above suggests, plastic containers shed plastics into their contents. Consider glass, stainless steel, or ceramic cups and containers instead.
Plastic baby bottles are particularly concerning as the vigorous shaking and heat exacerbate the breakdown of the bottle such that several million microplastics particles shear off a bottle into the milk or formula each feeding. On a positive note, plastic baby bottles are marginally healthier than they were fifteen years ago because the FDA enacted a 2012 ban on Bisphenol A (BPA) – an endocrine disrupting chemical found in plastics – in baby bottles and sippy cups. Unfortunately there are still no BPA restrictions for plastics marketed to adults or children over age three. Furthermore BPA is merely one of hundreds of hormone disrupting chemicals found in plastic bottles; the others remain unregulated and under researched. Even water bottles labeled BPA free, often contain cousin chemicals that are likewise toxic. If prevention is the best medicine, simply avoid plastic food and drink containers.
Food: As my August article elucidated, farmers increasingly coat their fields with biosolids or human waste that serves as fertilizer. This sludge from wastewater treatment plants is laden with microplastics among other toxins in human poop. Because biosolids are not permitted for use in organic agriculture, choosing organic ensures your food was not grown in biosolid soil.
Of course, choosing organic does not guarantee your food is plastic free. Both organic and conventional farmers often spread plastic sheets over their fields to suppress weeds and reduce evaporation and erosion. These plastics eventually break down into nanoplastics small enough to enter cells; they could theoretically move through the root system and into the tissues of the crops. Preventively, the best bet is to get to know the farmers at your local farmers market to understand their practices and make informed choices.
Clothes: Select clothing made of natural fibers, including cotton, linen, wool, hemp, alpaca or cashmere. Minimizing plastic clothes - nylon, polyester, fleece, acrylic, and spandex - will not only reduce the microplastics you inhale within your home, but also microplastics wafting across our planet. Clothes labeled water- or stain-resistant generally harbor more hidden endocrine disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals and are best avoided when possible. Regardless of the material, make a point of washing clothes, towels, and sheets at least once before wearing, to help remove chemicals. Further, focusing on purchasing durable clothes that you love, and plan to wear repeatedly, makes a positive difference as research suggests fabrics shed the most fibers during the first couple wears and washes.
The suggestions above embrace prevention as the best medicine. Research has yet to clarify the extent to which microplastics are harmful. But clearly it’s best not to wait to curtail the consumption and inhalation of particles that are known to enter cells and harbor carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Annie Lindberg is a licensed acupuncturist, Chinese Medicine practitioner, and Ayurvedic practitioner. She also holds a Masters of Environmental Studies. She owns and practices at The Point Acupuncture & Ayurveda, located in Madison Park and is a regular Madison Park Times health columnist.