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3 surprising ways microplastics can enter your body
3 surprising ways microplastics can enter your body
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Legendas (78)
0:07
Plastic is everywhere.
0:09
It’s in our clothes, our food— even the air we breathe.
0:13
So, it’s no surprise that plastic is also in our bodies.
0:18
But how exactly do these microscopic particles affect our health?
0:24
Micro and nanoplastics generally enter our bodies in one of three ways:
0:30
through the air, through our skin,
0:33
and most commonly, through what we eat and drink.
0:37
While processed foods have the most plastic,
0:40
particles have infiltrated our farms and seas,
0:44
making their way into most seafood, meat, and produce.
0:49
Plastic packaging sheds particles into whatever it touches—
0:53
a single liter of bottled water can contain over 200,000 of them.
0:59
Even metal cans and paper wrappers often hide plastic linings.
1:05
At home, particles enter our food from plastic cutting boards
1:10
and Teflon cookware.
1:12
Plastic storage containers are especially bad—
1:16
microwaving food in these can release millions of particles
1:20
into your leftovers.
1:22
The amount of plastic you breathe depends on your environment.
1:26
Urban areas and indoor spaces contain more airborne particles than rural ones,
1:33
but most people inhale tens of thousands of particles a day.
1:38
Finally, beauty and personal care products let plastics and toxic chemicals
1:44
seep into our skin.
1:46
Once inside, nanoplastics are small enough to pass through most cell membranes
1:53
and settle deep in our tissues.
1:56
Our bodies recognize these invaders
1:58
and trigger inflammation to remove the foreign particles.
2:02
But since our natural defenses can’t break down plastic,
2:07
the inflammatory response can trigger repeatedly,
2:11
causing long term damage.
2:13
For example, particles circulating through the respiratory system
2:18
can trigger widespread inflammation that impairs breathing
2:22
and contributes to asthma and pneumonia.
2:25
Worse still, inflammation brings an influx of blood to these tissues,
2:31
which plastics use to hitch a ride throughout the body.
2:35
Particles have been detected in our livers, spleens, muscles, bones,
2:41
and even our brains.
2:43
It's hard to say exactly how much plastic is in any one person,
2:48
but these particles are just the tip of the iceberg.
2:52
There are over 16,000 chemicals involved in plastic production,
2:58
and whenever plastic enters your body, some of these chemicals do too.
3:02
The vast majority of these have health impacts we don’t yet understand,
3:08
making it tricky to link specific health issues
3:11
with specific chemicals and plastics.
3:14
However, researchers have identified a few particularly dangerous groups.
3:21
Endocrine disrupting chemicals— such as phthalates, PFAS, and BPA—
3:28
are known to alter hormonal activity, wreaking havoc across the body.
3:33
By activating or inhibiting hormone receptors,
3:37
EDCs can hijack our metabolisms,
3:41
increasing the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
3:45
They can mimic testosterone and estrogen, confusing our body’s hormonal balance.
3:51
In women, high phthalate levels have been linked with pregnancy complications.
3:56
And in men, high BPA exposure has been connected to lower sperm count.
4:02
In fact, research suggests these chemicals have contributed
4:07
to the global decline in sperm count over the past 50 years.
4:12
Today, most people encounter these chemicals before they're even born.
4:17
A study on over 300 pre-teens found that exposure to EDCs in utero
4:24
may have impacted when they entered puberty over a decade later.
4:30
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by this plastic plague.
4:34
After all, there are no medical interventions for getting this material
4:39
out of our bodies.
4:40
And data suggests these particles accumulate inside us
4:45
faster than we excrete them through sweat, urine, and feces.
4:50
But small choices you make each day can reduce
4:54
how much plastic enters your body.
4:56
When buying clothes,
4:58
look for pieces made from natural fibers without toxic chemicals.
5:03
Swap your plastic cutting boards and storage containers
5:06
for wood, stainless steel, and glass replacements.
5:11
Eliminate single use plastic
5:13
and buy fresh, unpackaged foods whenever possible.
5:18
The more people stop buying plastic, the less of it we'll see.
5:22
But fixing a problem this big requires big solutions.
5:26
Just like gasoline, plastic is a petrochemical product
5:30
made and sold at a massive scale.
5:34
So it’s going to take legislation on the local, state, and country level
5:39
to make this material safer
5:41
and regulate just how much of it we put into our world and our bodies.
