Microplastics in the Body: What We Can Do
Introduction
Plastic production is one of the key sustainability concerns facing our planet.
According to the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health, over 98% of plastic is produced from fossil-fuel carbon sources emitting greenhouse gases and air pollution—coal, oil, and gas. Plastics themselves are carbon-based polymers with chemical additions for desired properties, many of which are highly toxic to natural environments, species, and human health.
Most plastic is not recycled and finishes its lifecycle in landfills, or as pollution, most significantly within the ocean. This results in the leaching of chemical contaminants and plastic particles.
Existing plastic and its continued production poses a threat to our marine, atmospheric, and terrestrial environments. Despite mounting concerns, according to the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the worldwide demand for plastic is expected to double by 2050.
There is another aspect of plastic pollution and production worthy of focus: the presence of plastics in human bodies.
It is vital to understand how plastic enters human bodies, the risks to human health, and what policy decisions we can make to address the issue going forward.
Pathways to Human Bodies
Look around the average household.
We can find plastic in many of our plates and containers, in disposable utensils and cups; in the accessories we wear and the appliances we use; in materials and packaging galore.
In 2025, Greenpeace surveyed Americans from every state to determine the prevalence of plastic household items. The report found that 48% of participants reported their reusable beverage and food storage containers are made mostly out of plastic. 60% of participants reported that they used a plastic cutting board. On average, participants reported 60% of their personal care items are packaged in plastic. Additionally, the majority of participants reported that their carpet and shower curtains contained plastic.
The proportion of plastic in households is so significant because there are many pathways for microplastics and nanoplastics—both extremely small plastic particles—which include microwaving food on plastic plates and in plastic tupperware, inhaling fibers, and direct contact through skin, through facial washes, shower gels, synthetic fabrics, and more.
Additionally, plastic that accumulates in natural food chains and ecosystems can enter humans through the consumption of seafood, foods grown in contaminated soil such as fruits and vegetables, honey, sea salt, and even our drinking water.
Microplastics have been detected in human bodies, from the lungs, breast milk, blood, placenta, liver, and urine.
Human Risks
Research is ongoing, and due to the nature of the prevalence of microplastics, direct impact on human health is not fully understood. Literature on the impact of plastic on wildlife can be used as a reference for humans, and it can be broken down into three main categories of harm: chemical, physical, and biological effects.
According to a study from the Anglia Ruskin University and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, chemical impacts from microplastics include the additives and dyes added for specific desired properties in the material. These additives can be carcinogenics, or cancer-causing, trigger allergies, and induce reproductive and developmental toxicities. Secondary toxins from plastic can include heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, which impact the immune system.
Physical impacts from plastic particles through inhalation can include respiratory diseases and inflammation. While most plastic fibers can be cleared through the respiratory system, small fibers accumulate in lung tissue.
Ingestion may also trigger inflammation and lipid accumulation, which is an excessive and wrongly-placed buildup of fats around cells and tissues.
The ingestion of plastic also impacts cells through direct nanoplastic uptake. Nanoplastic particles are small enough that they can attach to cell membranes, diffuse through the membrane wall into the cell, or be directly metabolized inside the cell by membrane pockets. The introduction of this synthetic material can cause damage to the inside of cells by accumulating and interrupting energy production, leading to cell death, or by causing chemical reactions, resulting in an imbalance of unstable molecules which impairs function.
For biological impacts, research has found that bacterial growth on hydrophobic microplastic surfaces can be rapid, which could increase the risk for infection in humans ingesting the plastic and its bacteria colonies.
Microplastics carrying harmful bacteria can also disrupt the gut microbiome, which is an important regulatory element of human health—aiding in digestion, housing a portion of the immune system, and supporting metabolic function. When harmful bacteria and an appealing surface to propagate on is introduced, the imbalance can damage the gut barrier’s intestinal wall, increase bacteria in the bloodstream, and lead to bowel and
metabolic issues.
The Way Forward
Interest in the plastic impact is rising, with concerns growing over the environment, human health, and our future.
It is clear that we need policy decisions to protect the health of society and the planet.
Critical to this is the decision to stop producing so much plastic.
A thriving economy has long been defined by profit, rising production, and rising consumption. A thriving world, however, cannot be defined by the same.
In his 1977 book, The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the West, progressive environmentalist Edward Abbey wrote about unconstrained industrial and economic expansion that “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
In the pursuit of always achieving, making, and consuming more, to chase the highest economic output as the highest measure of success, we outsource more and more known and unknown consequences to the environment and our own bodies for the sake of expansion. Instead, we must focus on readjusting and slowing down our consumption and production in the interest of sustainability.
In April 2026, for the first time in history, the Environmental Protection Agency designated microplastics as a priority contaminant in order to safeguard drinking water and to commit more regulatory attention and research funding towards.
Beyond Plastics is one grassroots organization pushing regulatory attention towards sustainable policies that move away from excessive plastic production, including the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023, which has been introduced in Congress and proposes to shift the burden of plastic cleanup to the corporations who produce the waste, and freeze the construction of new plastic production facilities.
Additionally, the proposed Protect Our Health from Plastic Act prohibits toxic substances and chemicals from being used in plastic packaging, and reduces plastic packaging by moving away from unnecessary materials.
There are many movements growing against the threat of plastic that need support and attention, and one of the most powerful things we can do is add our voice in advocacy, direct action, and policymaker contact.
References
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