142 - 7 Steps You Can Take to Help Reduce Micro plastics and Their Impact on Your Health
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142 7 Steps You Can Take to Help Reduce Micro plastics and Their Impact on Your Health
I first learned about microplastics about five years ago, and honestly I was pretty shocked. Even more research has come out about where they come from and how they impact the Earth. There's also some new research talking about how they impact our health, and it's quite alarming.
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are smaller than the tip of a number two pencil and this tiny plastic is found almost everywhere on Earth, even in the depths of the ocean. Australian scientists in October of 2020, estimated at 9.25 to 15.86 million tons of microplastics are found on the ocean floor. The New York Times helped us better understand exactly how much that is by sharing that it's the equivalent of 18 to 24 shopping bags, full of small plastic fragments for every foot of coastline on every continent except Antarctica.
That is a lot of plastic, this is a really big problem.
Research that has come out shows that we are eating microplastics, we are drinking them, and we're even breathing them into our lungs. A recent study published in Environment International found plastic in 77% of the participants blood and stool samples. More recently, research has found microplastics deep in human lungs.
The World Wildlife Fund and researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia estimated that people consume about five grams of microplastic a week. That's roughly the equivalent of a credit card. So you're basically eating a credit card every single week. And of course, that makes us think about what are the long term effects of consuming these microplastics. One concern, of course, is BPA and phthalates which are often found in plastics. Some of these microplastics could be leaching chemicals like these into our bodies, which we know can disrupt our hormone system. BPA has also been linked with reduced fertility in men and women, and cognitive problems. Check below for a list of research articles and additional resources.
Every time we participate in plastic, whether that means buying a lotion container in a plastic bottle, or buying a synthetic fabric, unfortunately, we are contributing to the microplastics problem. So you might be thinking, okay, so yeah, there's plastic in the ocean, there's not much I can do about that.
Yes, there are corporations that are having a much bigger impact on it, but there is something that we each can do.
Use a filter or wash bag in your laundry process that can help reduce microplastics going straight into our water system. Maybe you've seen these or heard about these bags, they’re kind of like lingerie bags, and what they do is they stop the microplastics from your clothes from leaving the bag and getting into the water. You put all your synthetic clothing in there, throw it in the wash, and then the microplastics actually collect within this bag. The filter option actually attaches to your washing machine. I was doing a little bit more research about these filters and they're not super common. You might have to buy it out of Canada or Europe or somewhere like that. But there are some companies who are adding these filters to their washing machines. Now the problem with the bag or the filter is that the plastic collects and you have to dispose of it in some way. We don't really know what the impact of the disposing of the microplastics in the trash is versus it going into the water system. I would think that filtering it out and not putting it straight into the water is better, because then animals aren't eating and drinking it. We know that one reason we probably are eating microplastics is because the animals that we eat, eat the microplastics, or in some cases, they eat the sediment and possibly in the vegetables that are grown. It’s hard to imagine, but I have read that microplastics have been absorbed by plants from the water and soil.
Just think, again, whenever you're going to purchase something, especially fabrics. Think about synthetics and try to reduce the amount of synthetic fabrics that you purchase. So nylon and microfiber, or polyester, those sorts of man made fibers often are made with plastics and through their washing can create microplastics. And also when they are manufacturing these fabrics, they are making a lot of waste, a lot of microplastic waste.
Purchase food and other products in glass or in paper, not in plastic. When you're at the grocery store, and you reach for a bag of lettuce, think about the fact that it is wrapped in plastic. Another option would be to just buy a head of lettuce and to put it in a cloth bag. Again, you're just reducing the amount of plastic that you are consuming and taking home instead of it ending up in our system in some sort of way. Whether that's the trash or whether it is the depths of your cabinets because you keep them forever because you feel guilty that you bought them at the grocery store. That might be my family. When you’re shopping go back to the source of how food is packaged. So what I mean by this is, when I was a kid and you went to the grocery store, things were not in the amount of packaging that they are now. You would go to the store and you would probably use one of those plastic films to put your lettuce in or bag up your apples. But now when you go to the grocery store, it's very, very hard to find anything that's not packaged in plastic. So really just doing whatever you can to grab the item that's not packaged in plastic. Go for the milk in the glass container, even if you have to return it back to the store. Bring your own canvas bags to the grocery store and bag up your lettuce in those canvas bags. Really just think about every single choice and shying away from plastic wherever you can. Avoid buying convenience foods and try bringing snacks packed in reusable bags or containers if you can. Believe me, I know plastics are easier. If plastic weren't so easy, we wouldn't have so much of an issue with plastic, right? We wouldn't have the entire coastline of every single continent besides Antarctica with a plastic bag full of microplastics. Right? If we skirt against that and we push against these conveniences, maybe we can start to have a small but collective impact on reducing the amount of microplastics in our world.
Drink water from the tap instead of a plastic bottle. I know a lot of people think that bottled water is healthier and that it's better. A lot of studies have shown that tap water or filtered tap water is much healthier, and doesn't have as many issues from the plastic that it's held in, like leaching chemicals and ingesting microplastics. This got me thinking about my kids who are addicted to their Hydro Flask and the fact that they're sucking on a plastic straw all day long. So we are going to make an adjustment here and swap out those straws for the good old fashion twist tops. And that could make a big difference on the amount of microplastics that they are ingesting simply by taking out that straw. Because if you think about it, the things that impact our health the most are the ones that we do over and over and over and over again.
Change up your coffee cup. If your reusable cup has a straw or you're sipping out of a plastic lid, you may be ingesting microplastics. But it’s better than the disposable cups at your favorite coffee shop, which are often lined with plastic.
Don't heat your food in plastic. Almost everything is packaged in plastic. There are a lot of convenience foods that you boil the food right in the plastic and of course, so many items that you put in the microwave with plastic. That's just another not so great way that you're going to be consuming these microplastics, through heating plastic, and the composition of the plastic changes and could be leaching into your food.
Vacuum and dust regularly. There are microplastics in the dust in our homes. So we know that leaving our shoes at the front door and not wearing shoes in the home and dusting regularly and vacuuming regularly can impact your health and microplastics are a part of that. We know that there are phthalates, BPA, PFAS, and flame retardants and all sorts of yucky stuff that is not good for us found in these microplastics. Chemicals that are really known to be harmful to our health. So vacuuming and dusting regularly is a way to collect those chemicals and that dust and reduce your body's impact from chemicals that come into the home.
I hope I’ve given you some insight into the seriousness of the problem of microplastics and encouraged you to take some simple steps to protect your health.
I am always researching and learning so I can share this message with you. If you want to stay up to date on all I’m learning about, subscribe to my weekly newsletter at www.meganmikkelsen.com or join in the conversation in my Facebook group Toxin-Free Talk. And of course you can always send me an email to megan @detox.design. I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for helping me make this planet happier and healthier one step at a time.