Researchers issue urgent warning after discovering 'invisible' threat in everyday products: 'Requires us to act now'

The health risks associated with microplastics have been known for years. However, researchers are now learning that it doesn't take much for microplastic particles to make their way into our food and water. 

What's happening?

A growing number of scientists have noted that microplastics have the ability to easily shed into food and water without much effort. While many people might assume that overuse is the main concern in microplastic exposure, the truth is that these microscopic plastic particles may end up in your food after just one use. 

Victoria Fulfer, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rhode Island, said the prevalence of plastic use in food packaging only amplifies the concern. 

"Mostly, when a container says 'microwave safe,' it means it's safe for the container to be in the microwave, it's not going to melt," Fulfer told NBC News.  

"But that doesn't mean that it's safe for you as a person, because microwaving plastic particularly changes the chemical bonds," Fulfer added. "They make them more weak." 

Why is microplastic exposure important?

Dr. Leonardo Trasande, director of the Grossman Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards at New York University, explained that microplastic exposure can lead to an array of severe health problems.

"We're talking about cardiovascular mortality," Trasande told NBC News. "We're also talking about hormone-sensitive cancers. Breast, thyroid, ovarian, not to mention kidney cancer, that have been associated with these chemical exposures."

Despite the increasing health risk that comes along with microplastic exposure, scientists note that more research needs to be done to determine the extent of the possible damage.  

What's being done about reducing microplastic use?

According to a study from Trasande, there are ways that we may be able to address this growing concern. "Preventing plastic exposure is very much possible," Trasande wrote. 

The researcher suggested that by including color-based additives to chemicals in plastic creation, we can help visualize the abundance of plastic in our everyday lives. 

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"Looking to the next ten years ahead, biomonitoring initiatives are needed to visualise this issue, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries," Trasande added. "The technology to measure [micro- and nanoplastics] will eventually advance and make concerns even more apparent, but the threat of the invisible requires us to act now." 

In the meantime, legislators have worked to progress measures to minimize the production of single-use plastics. In 2023, Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023 in an effort to "prevent pollution from consumer products and packaging from entering into animal and human food chains and waterways, and for other purposes." 

In 2019, 170 countries pledged to significantly reduce the use of plastics by 2030. Since then, the UN Environment Assembly has worked to proactively address the issue. 

"Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic," said Espen Barth Eide, Norway's minister for climate and the environment.

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