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โ๏ธ 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.
What are microplastics? Microplastics are not just โtiny pieces of plastic.โ They are a diverse category of synthetic particles that differ in size, shape, composition, and origin. Despite these differences, the one attribute that they all share is that theyโre extremely difficult to break down.
Scientifically, microplastics are solid plastic fragments, fibers, or matrices smaller than 5 mm but larger than 1 ฮผm [2โ7]. At the upper end, they are comparable to the diameter of a straw; at the lower, they approach the width of a bacterium. Even smaller, nanoplastics (less than 1 ฮผm) are roughly the size of viruses, dust, and fine particulate pollutants [8, 9]. Because of their size, theyโre highly mobile across ecological and biological systems, allowing them to reside in the soil, water, air, food, and even human blood [7].ย
Microplastics are classified as primary or secondary microplastics.ย
Primary microplastics are intentionally manufactured at microscope size. These include microbeads used in exfoliating scrubs, toothpastes, cleaning products, and resins [1, 10]. From these products, the microplastic particles enter waterways, oftentimes pass through wastewater treatment plants, and flow back into home tap water or rivers and oceans.ย
Secondary microplastics are created when larger plastic items, like bags, bottles, clothing and other textiles, ropes, tires, and more. These are much more common than primary microplastics [1, 6, 10]. They can be created in a number of ways, including mechanical abrasion, ultraviolet radiation, and heat. All of these processes can break larger plastics down into smaller and smaller particles [8, 9].ย
Every piece of plastic ever produced, unless incinerated, will eventually become microplastic or nanoplastic. This inevitability makes them a permanent feature of our environment.ย
Microplastics appear in an endless number of shapes. Pellets, beads, films, fibers, foams, fragments, spheroids, splinters, and even sponge-like or rope-like particles have all been catalogued [3, 13]. While understanding microplastic shapes seems arbitrary, the particle shape has direct biological consequences. Fibers, for example, are aerodynamic, remaining suspended in air and depositing deep in the lungs. Films and sheets can coat mucosal surfaces, disrupting gas exchange or nutrient absorption. Irregular fragments create sharp edges capable of piercing cellular membranes. Shape can influence toxicity as much as particle size.ย
Most microplastics come from the same plastics we use in our everyday lives, including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polycarbonate (PC) [4, 5]. These polymers differ in density, durability, and surface chemistry, dictating how they behave in the environment and in our bodies.ย
Most plastics are usually made of additives such as plasticizers, stabilizers, and flame retardants. These additives can leach from the plastics. The surface of microplastics also adsorbs heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, and hydrocarbons from the environment [1, 5]. In this way, microplastics act as chemical sponges. When they enter our bodies, they are then released in the gut, lungs, or bloodstream. Therefore, the biological harm from microplastics come not only from the polymer, but also from the toxic additives that they carry.ย
Microplastics are now virtually everywhere. Theyโve been found in aquatic systems, including oceans, rivers, lakes, and sediments [4, 6, 7, 11, 12]. Microplastics have also been found in agricultural fields as a result of irrigation using wastewater or fertilizer with sewage sludge [6]. Theyโre also in the air, with airborne fibers and fragments circulating in indoor and outdoor air [6, 7]. Moreover, theyโve been found in plants, livestock, fish, and shellfish [7, 10]. Lastly, theyโve been found in many human tissues [4, 6, 7].ย
This ubiquity is not random. It reflects the ability of plastics to fragment, persist, and move across boundaries. Air currents transport them to remote mountains. Rivers carry them to the sea. Insects and animals ingest them and pass them up the food chain. Microplastics, once released, become a permanent element of ecological circulation.
Simply put, plastics are engineered for durability. Their resistance to biodegradation makes them invaluable in packaging and construction, but it also ensures that they remain in the environment nearly indefinitely [6]. They do not dissolve, rot, or corrode. Instead, physical and photochemical weathering gradually reduce their size. This โbreaking downโ is deceptive: plastics never fully disappear. A single bottle degrades into millions of microscopic fragments, each retaining the resilience of the original material. These fragments infiltrate soil pores, water tables, respiratory passages, and cellular membranes, ensuring long-term exposure across generations.
Microplastics are both small enough to evade detection yet large enough, chemically, to resist elimination. They are products of human innovation that have become permanent environmental residents. Their diversity in size, shape, and chemistry makes them not just a single pollutant but an entire class of pollutants, unified only by their synthetic origin and stubborn persistence.
If youโre concerned about your health, itโs imperative that you develop a lifestyle strategy to reduce your exposure and intake of microplastics.ย
While itโs 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.ย
Our platform, consisting of an all-natural supplement, a microplastic intake calculator, and lifestyle recommendations is intended to help you avoid microplastics. Our science-backed supplement is formulated to support your bodyโs natural detoxification defenses, including oxidative stress management, cellular repair, and antioxidant support. Our microplastic intake calculator 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 itโs nearly impossible to completely avoid microplastic exposure, we have a plethora of lifestyle recommendations designed to help you make small changes for big impacts.ย
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.
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You may have seen the headlines or posts claiming that glass beverage bottles contain more microplastics than plastic bottles. These claims state that glass bottlesโฆ
Microplastics are like ugly snowflakes – each particle is essentially unique. Their appearance varies widely based on the type of plastic, source material, degradation pathway,โฆ
Laundry is one of the most overlooked yet significant contributors to microplastic pollution in modern life. Each wash cycle puts clothes under all kinds ofโฆ
