Microplastics are a real problem for healthspan

And here's what I'm doing about it.

With all the headlines about health issues, one that doesn't get as much mainstream attention is microplastics.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are the microscopic bits of plastic that are ubiquitous in the environment and food supply. And unfortunately, they don't just pass through the gut - some are absorbed into the body.

This is a problem that I can no longer ignore.

For me, it’s a dawning realization that all the supplements, exercise, and longevity stuff might not mean anything if we're storing bits of plastic in our brains and arteries.

Let’s take a look at the recent research on what microplastics are doing in the body and how this directly affects healthspan. I’m also going to explain how the gut barrier is involved (yes - a recurring theme for me). Finally, I’ll go through some of the practical things that I’m personally doing to decrease exposure.

Defining the problem:

Let’s take a look at what is currently known about the fate of microplastics and nanoplastics in the body.

Embedded in atherosclerotic plaque: Heart attacks and heart failure
A study published in May of 2024 (Liu, et al) looked at samples from “coronary and carotid arteries with atherosclerotic plaques, as well as the aorta without plaques.” The researchers found that all of the arteries sampled had microplastics in the atherosclerotic plaque. No microplastics were found in the aortas without atherosclerotic plaques. Another study (Yang, et al. 2023) found that microplastics were present in cardiac muscle tissue and in fatty tissue surrounding the heart.

Inside the brain: Neurodegeneration
A recent preprint study (Campen, et al.) showed that microplastics readily accumulate in brain tissue. The researchers used brain samples from 2016 to 2024 and found that almost 0.5% of the brain tissue sample was plastics — with an increase over the 8 years. Another study (Gou, et al.) in neurons shows that nanoplastics significantly accelerate the formation of amyloid beta plaques. There's also a likely link between APOE E4, lipid transport, atherosclerosis, and nanoplastics.

In the bones: Osteoporosis
A brand new study (Pan, et al) published a few days ago shows that mice exposed to microplastics in their water are depositing part of the plastic in their bones. Polystyrene microplastics trigger accelerated senescence of bone stem cells, leading to excessive production of RANKL to produce more osteoclasts. The imbalance between osteoclasts and osteoblasts leads to bone degeneration and osteoporosis. Another bone study in humans found microplastics in all of the bone marrow samples (n=16). Polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyadiohexylenediamine 66, and polypropylene were found, with polyethylene being the most common.

Hematopoietic stem cells and intestinal permeability: Reduced immune response
Another new study (Jiang, et al.) on bone marrow showed that microplastics absorbed in the intestines affect the production of stem cells in the bone marrow. Hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow are how the body continuously makes red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells. The study found that long-term ingestion of microplastics impaired the stem cells and reduced the production of white blood cells. One mechanism for the impaired HSCs was due to increased intestinal permeability.

Where are microplastics found?

Microplastics are found in the soil, air (from tires, etc), household dust (from the breakdown of fibers and plastics), ocean, groundwater, the food supply, and throughout the home. Even the seeds used in agriculture are covered in a plastic coating.[ref][ref][ref] The problem is not that plastic doesn't break down, but that it breaks down into tiny particles that are everywhere.

My goal is to reduce my consumption of nanoplastics, rather than total elimination. For most tasks, the 80/20 rule applies. I’m taking on the easy 20% of reducing exposure to nanoplastics, hoping to reap 80% of the benefits.

My other goal is to have an intestinal barrier that prevents the absorption and circulation of the microplastics that I do consume.

Autodigestion, microplastics:

Circling back to my last two articles on autodigestion from leaking digestive enzymes (read part one here, part two here), I wanted to touch on a couple more studies showing that microplastics change gut permeability.

There are quite a few studies in animals showing that microplastics from food/water are causing changes in the gut microbiome and intestinal barrier function. The study, for example, shows that polypropylene microplastic particles at 8 and 70 μm caused changes in the intestinal epithelial cells, reduced tight junctions, and caused “decreased intestinal mucus secretion”. A decreased intestinal mucosal barrier allows digestive enzymes to enter the bloodstream, and we digest our own organs. And that same decrease in mucosal barrier also allows more nanoplastic particles to enter the body.

I could go on with more scary studies, but I think heart, bone, intestines, autodigestion, and plastic brains are enough for now...

Here are seven things I’m doing:

Microplastics and nanoplastics are ubiquitous — found throughout the food supply in small amounts. Simply switching brands isn’t going to do much.[ref][ref]

Here’s a quick rundown of changes that I’ve made to avoid microplastics. I’m making changes when I can and where I can. I don’t have all the solutions, but hopefully, this will give you some ideas to use as a starting point.

1) Reverse osmosis water filtration:
Clean water is foundational, and having a reverse osmosis system in the kitchen is very worthwhile to me. Studies show that microplastics are in almost every tap water source as well as in almost all brands of bottled water (drinking only bottled water doubles the level of microplastics).[ref] I don’t have a bunch of brand recommendations here for filters (the reverse osmosis system was already in our home when we bought it). Instead, my problem was drinking out of plastic bottles or coffee cups when out and about. I do want to point out that filtering water into a plastic pitcher seems a little bit foolish. If you’re using a pitcher filter, check out the glass or stainless steel options.

2) Glass or stainless steel for beverages:
To avoid buying drinks in plastic, I’ve picked up several glass or stainless bottles and stainless coffee mugs from the thrift store that I try to keep in the car. The paper to go coffee cups are all lined with a thin film of plastic that releases microplastics into the hot beverage. If you need to get a drink from a plastic soda cup at a restaurant, simply rinsing the cup before using it can reduce microplastics by 50% or more.[ref] There are also filter straw bottles available if you want to be able to filter microplastics from tap water on the go. (I’m not going this far yet... Baby steps of stocking the car with a stainless coffee mug when traveling.)

3) Coffee pot → French Press:
My coffee pot heated the water in a plastic reservoir, and I couldn’t find a simple drip coffee pot that didn’t have plastic on the inside. So I switched to heating my water in a stainless steel electric kettle (like this) and using a glass French press that I found at the thrift store (like this one). I use a glass-lined thermos to keep my second cup warm. The other option is an old-fashioned electric percolator, but I had very inconsistent results with that — probably just user error.

4) Practical kitchen changes: Storage in glass, ceramic, and silicone
Take a look around the kitchen and see how your food is stored. While you may not be able to do much about the food supply, you can change how you store things in your pantry and refrigerator.

My ‘ah ha’ moment here was in looking at a kind of ratty-looking plastic bag in my pantry. My plastic bag full of nuts from the bulk food section of the grocery store looked pretty sad. We’ve all seen the broken-down plastic liner in a cereal box or the reused plastic baggie that is almost to the point of having holes in it. Where do you think the plastic particles have gone? Yeah… For foods that come in plastic (or plastic-lined foil bags), if you are going to be getting into the bag multiple times, that will cause the bag to break down a bit. So I’m putting those foods into glass jars (yep - canning jars, old pickle jars, jars from the thrift store, etc.). I’ve also moved all my spices into little glass spice jars.

Glass spice jars - https://amzn.to/49nTBao ** My spice drawer looks neat, clean, and plastic-free.

My pantry is now full of labeled jars. It’s not Instagram-worthy since I went with reusing all kinds of different jars, but I did invest in a chalk pen and chalk jar lids for labeling.

I’ve also bought some silicone reusable bags to replace plastic baggies in the fridge and freezer. Handy. Everyone in my family is getting these this year for Christmas :-)

5) Melatonin at night:
A study on hematopoietic stem cell damage from microplastics showed that taking melatonin at night helped to prevent part of the accumulation in the bone by improving the gut barrier.[ref] Probiotics also were shown to help, but that is going to be a more individualized response depending on your gut microbiome and the probiotic strain.

You could supplement with time-release melatonin, or you can boost your melatonin levels naturally by avoiding blue light from screens or LED lights for a couple of hours before bedtime.

6) Dusting:
Household dust is a surprisingly large source of microplastic exposure.[ref][ref][ref] While I could spin you a nice tale of how some kind of organic wool duster would solve all your woes, the reality is that simply vacuuming, dusting with a damp rag, and cleaning often should be effective. I have hardwood throughout my house, and I have found that actually vacuuming the corners, behind the doors, and under the furniture does a lot for reducing dust. (Yeah, you should have seen the dust bunnies hiding under the couch.)

The primary sources of microplastics in household dust are from the breakdown of polyester and polypropylene fabrics — found in furniture, rugs, and carpets. Does this mean I should get rid of my couch and chairs and go with some kind of organic cotton stuffed with wool? Well, probably.. and there are places that sell organic, plastics-free furniture. However, I’ll just vacuum a lot of dust rather than spend 5K on an organic couch.

7) Cutting boards:
When you cut on a plastic cutting board, little bits of plastic end up in the food. These may be big enough little bits that they pass on through the gut, but some are going to be pretty small and may accumulate in the body. A study on plastic cutting boards estimated that we get up to 50g of plastic a year from chopping food on one.[ref] This was an easy swap for me — I already had a couple of wooden cutting boards that I didn’t use because I didn’t want to get them messed up. Not sure what I was saving them for, but they are now my daily chopping surface…

Edited to add: Boiling hard tap water to remove microplastics

Researchers in China found that boiling tap water for 5 minutes causes calcium carbonate (minerals in the tap water) to form a crystalline structure around the microplastic particles. They were then able to filter out the enlarged particles using a coffee filter. [ref]

The very small size of nanoplastic particles is what allows them to cross the intestinal barrier and be absorbed into the blood circulation. It would be interesting to see if simply boiling hard tap water increases the particle size enough that the nanoplastics aren’t able to be absorbed (even if the water isn’t filtered through a coffee filter).

Conclusion:

The study on microplastics in the brain— interacting with APOE, potentially causing Alzheimer’s — was my wake-up call. I needed to know that microplastics were causing real and long-term damage to overcome my inertia in getting rid of plastics. Your tipping point may be different, and that’s ok. This is a problem that isn’t going to go away easily.

**affiliate Amazon links, your purchase on Amazon may help me buy more silicone baggies.