Are there microplastics in food?

Are there microplastics in food?

⚕️ MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your health regimen, diet, or supplement use, especially if you have existing medical conditions or take medications. The information presented here should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely to be concerned about what’s in your food – at least to a moderate degree. You know to eat a balanced diet, you know to avoid processed foods, you know to try and buy organic to avoid dangerous chemicals. Despite doing all these things, unfortunately, you’re still likely to consume microplastics and nanoplastics.

More and more scientific papers are publishing findings showing microplastics in food: our fruits, vegetables, meat, and more. Microplastics get into the broader food chain through soil, water, air, and can then enter our foods again via processing, packaging, distribution, and more. Unfortunately, at every step of the process, from production, processing, and consumption, microplastics can enter the chain and eventually make their way into us [1-12]. This article provides a high-level overview as to how and why there are microplastics in food.

Microplastics are everywhere in the environment. Each day, millions of microplastic particles enter the waterways. In the ocean, filter-feeding shellfish and small fish ingest microplastic particles. In turn, these are eaten by larger animals, transferring the microplastics up the food chain [1,2]. Outside of the ocean, microplastics make their way into freshwater streams and rivers, where they’re consumed by land animals and agricultural animals, including cows and chickens. Moreover, these same waterways provide water to many types of plants and agricultural crops, introducing microplastics into our food. For agricultural products, microplastics also enter plants via sewage sludge or plastic mulches [3,4]. Unfortunately, no matter what your diet is, microplastics will find a way to enter you through your food.

Airborne Deposition of Microplastics

Microplastics can also enter our foods via the air. Airborne microplastics descend onto food surfaces during production, packaging, and even home dining. Indoor environments are particularly rich in synthetic fibers shed from clothing, carpets, and furniture [5, 6]. When meals are prepared or eaten, fibers settle out of the air, embedding themselves in what we consume. This is one of the least suspected ways we get microplastics in food.

Microplastics In Food Via Processing and Packaging

Food processing introduces additional layers of contamination. Washing, grinding, and packaging operations release microplastic particles into products. Salt is a notable source of microplastics, often containing significant microplastic loads [7]. Packaging materials themselves break down through use. Heating or microwaving food in plastic containers can also release micro particles into meals [8, 9]. Even tea is affected by microplastic contamination. Plastic teabags shed both microplastics and nanoparticles directly into the brew [10]. These everyday practices all contribute to microplastic contamination within our foods.

The Kitchen as a Source of Microplastics

The kitchen contains many items that release microplastics. Plastic utensils and appliances actively generate microplastics during food preparation. Cutting boards, non-stick pans, plastic ladles, and storage containers release fragments with repeated use [5]. Blenders and grinders have been shown to shed both microplastics and nanoplastics directly into food [11, 12]. The very tools meant to prepare and preserve food often become points of contamination themselves.

A Web of Invisible Inputs

The contamination of food is not the result of a single source, but a web of overlapping pathways. Plastics leach in fields, drift in air, dissolve from packaging, and scrape off from utensils. Every stage from growth, to processing, to storage, and finally preparation, adds to the burden. This explains why microplastics are now consistently detected in human stool and tissues [6]. They do not appear accidentally; they accumulate systematically, making ingestion nearly unavoidable.

Your food is not just calories and nutrients. It now carries the byproducts of a plasticized world. While it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to avoid microplastics, there are many small, simple actions that you can take each day to lower the amount of microplastics you consume. This is why we developed the Deplasto platform.

Our platform, consisting of a nutritional supplement, an app for tracking and measuring microplastic intake over time, and lifestyle recommendations is intended to help you avoid microplastics. Our supplement is formulated to support your body’s natural detoxification defenses, including oxidative stress management, cellular repair, and antioxidant support. Our microplastic intake app is designed to show you an estimate of your daily exposure, with every datapoint backed by scientific studies, to help you understand how you can best avoid microplastics. Lastly, given that it’s nearly impossible to completely avoid microplastic exposure, we have a plethora of lifestyle recommendations designed to help you make small changes for big impacts.

Overall, we believe that the best way to eliminate microplastics begins with you and the changes you make to your daily life. Over time, collectively, we can make a significant difference in your health and the environment.

Sources

1. A systematic review and quality assessment of estimated daily intake of microplastics through food
2. Mapping Microplastics in Humans- Analysis of Polymer Types, and Shapes in Food and Drinking Water-A Systematic Review
3. A review of methods for mitigating microplastic contamination in biosolids from wastewater treatment plants before agricultural soil application
4. Biodegradable microplastics induce profound changes in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) defense mechanisms and to some extent deteriorate growth traits
5. Beyond the food on your plate- Investigating sources of microplastic contamination in home kitchens
6. Detection of microplastics in human tissues and organs- A scoping review
7. A critical review of microplastics toxicity and potential adverse outcome pathway in human gastrointestinal tract
8. Adverse health effects of exposure to plastic, microplastics and their additives- environmental, legal and policy implications for Israel
9. Exposure to irregular microplastic shed from baby bottles activates the ROS_NLRP3_Caspase-1 signaling pathway, causing intestinal inflammation
10. Microplastics and nanoplastics in tea- Sources, characteristics and potential impacts
11. Airborne micro- and nanoplastics- emerging causes of respiratory diseases
12. Detection of microplastics and nanoplastics released from a kitchen blender using Raman imaging