Environmental Question #36 [Microplastic Hazard Level]

Are ubiquitous micro plastics a serious problem?

Courtesy of Reddit user u/M1ST3RJ1P

Q: Are ubiquitous micro plastics a serious problem?

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A: Probably not, but honestly we aren't really sure. A lot of the concern surrounding microplastics is connected to concerns with hormone-like chemicals that are used as additives in plastics, which I talk about here.

The rest of the concern about microplastics is that scientists have found them all over the body, and while that probably isn't a good thing, it isn't clear exactly what the microplastics are doing to the body, if anything. Research is still very much ongoing surrounding the potential effects of microplastic exposure on various parts of the body, so we will likely have a clearer understanding of what the risks are once results become available, but for the time being the best answer I can give you is no one really knows.

One thing I can say though, is that the effects of microplastics must by definition be fairly small. For major toxins like lead and mercury, or even more modern toxins like second hand smoke and PFAS, the effects on human health became glaringly obvious within only a decade or two of people being exposed to them. These materials all cause serious and clearly noticeable problems like significant cognitive decline, loss of lung function, and birth defects. However, plastics and therefore microplastics have been around for almost 100 years and they aren't clearly or directly linked to any particular health issues. That absolutely does not mean that microplastics are safe, but it does mean that whatever problems they cause are harder to spot than the other environmental toxins I mentioned.

Microplastics in our bodies and the environment are certainly a problem that must be seriously addressed, and efforts are already being made to study the effects of microplastics and methods to clean them up. That is all important work that should get appropriate attention and funding, but microplastics aren't the kind of problem that the average person should spend every day worrying about.