Microplastics are everywhere: in our food, drink, clothing, cosmetics, buildings and even in the air we breathe. This discovery has left many wondering how to avoid microplastics.
Microplastics — or small pieces of plastic ranging in size from 5 millimeters to 1 nanometer — "are so ubiquitous they have been found literally anywhere scientists have looked,” Paul Anastas, Ph.D., director of Yale University Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, tells TODAY.com.
A major reason for their prevalence is that once microplastics are produced, they don’t degrade easily or sometimes at all.
Plastics, both microscopic and larger pieces, pose environmental risks, but they also may have negative health impacts, as they can accumulate in the body. A growing body of research has found microplastics in human blood; reproductive organs; lung, heart and liver tissue; and in the placenta and even breastmilk.
A 2025 landmark study found about a spoon’s worth of plastic in the brain tissue of deceased 45- to 50-year-olds. "These results highlight a critical need to better understand the routes of exposure, uptake and clearance pathways and potential health consequences of plastics in human tissues, particularly in the brain," the study authors wrote.
“Once we discovered that microplastics could cross the blood-brain barrier, we knew we were in especially potentially concerning territory,” Anastas explains.
So what do we really know about the potential negative health impacts of microplastics? How long can they persist in the body? And what can be done to protect yourself and your loved ones from overexposure? Here's what to know.
What are microplastics?
Microplastics can be as big as a pencil eraser and as small as one-eightieth the width of a strand of human hair, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“They are made of synthetic polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, materials commonly used in plastics,” Wei Min, Ph.D., a biophysicist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com.
These substances are found in abundance in plastic packaging, clothing made of synthetic fabrics, cookware, grocery bags, toys, sports equipment, food and beverage containers, cosmetics and personal care products, and more.
“You’ll find them in everything you can imagine really,” Britta Denise Hardesty, Ph.D., senior principal research scientist at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, tells TODAY.com.
Microplastics can detach from a bigger piece in a number of ways, such as yard furniture becoming brittle and breaking down from UV radiation, tires wearing out naturally on the road, food containers being heated in the microwave, aging or sustained use of a plastic object, and during the manufacturing process.
Contamination can also occur through multiple avenues. Take bottled water, for example. A 2024 study found that, on average, a single liter of bottled water contains some 240,000 detectable pieces of plastic, which likely detach from the surrounding container during manufacturing, when the plastic gets hot in storage or during transportation, or from the screwing on and off of the plastic cap.
The health risks of microplastics
Much is still unknown about the health risks of microplastics, but “research is revealing more and more health impacts," Tracey Woodruff, Ph.D., director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, tells TODAY.com.
Microplastics “keep turning up in places in our bodies we definitely don’t want plastic," she adds.
So far, research has found possible links between microplastics and:
- Infertility
- Breathing issues
- Increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death
- Dementia
Scientists have yet to prove that microplastics cause such conditions, “but it is hard to imagine that microplastics are benign,” William Dichtel, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, tells TODAY.com.
After all, microplastics consist of “a bunch of human-made materials that our bodies did not evolve to process,” he adds.
Min agrees, pointing to “the need for more research ... particularly on the long-term effects, like immune dysfunction or chronic disease.”
Do microplastics stay in your body forever?
It's currently unclear how long microplastics stay in our bodies, experts say.
“Many of the plastics that ultimately form microplastics do not degrade quickly in the environment or in our bodies,” says Dichtel.
The vast majority of these particles eventually get processed through our digestive system, “but it is hard to say if some particles stay in the body forever,” he explains. “They definitely accumulate though — meaning we are ingesting them faster than they can be cleared.”
It also likely matters where in the body the microplastics are building up. For example, our liver and kidneys are capable of flushing some plastics, “but I’m not sure of any mechanism by which the brain would be able to rid itself of microplastics,” says Anastas.
Size matters, too: “Smaller particles that are less than 0.001 millimeters (called nanoplastics) can cross into the bloodstream or organs ... where they could persist longer,” says Min.
Can I flush microplastics out of my system?
Knowing that microplastics accumulate in the body, you may be curious if it's possible to “flush” them out. However, research hasn't uncovered a way to do so, beyond what the body does naturally.
“There’s no scientifically proven ‘detox’ method to speed up removal of any microplastics from the body,” says Min.
“There’s no way to flush microplastics out of your system beyond what the body is doing already,” echoes Anastas.
The trick “is to minimize ingesting microplastics in the first place,” says Woodruff.
How can I protect myself from microplastics?
It is impossible to avoid microplastics completely, the experts say.
“Every American is going to have some exposure to microplastics in our daily activities," says Dichtel. "It is important to be realistic about that.”
But you can certainly limit their accumulation in your body by taking specific steps that include:
- Limit single-use plastics.
- Drink from metal or cardboard straws.
- Wear clothing based on natural fibers, like cotton or wool.
- Wash your clothes in cold water and don’t use dryer sheets.
- Avoid beverages in bottles.
- Don’t heat any food in plastic containers.
- Steer clear of plastic-wrapped food in supermarkets. “Buy in bulk, store in glass,” advises Hardesty.
It’s also important to “shape corporate behavior with our purchasing power,” says Woodruff. “Let companies know that we want them to use safer alternatives, such as glass or paper.”
“Look to a few decades ago in terms of how we shopped, transported, cooked and kept food,” she adds. “There’s a lot to be learned from our recent past. ... Plastic wasn’t this ubiquitous even just a few decades ago.”
