What You Can Do About Microplastics in Your Food
In Week 4 of our Detox Your Kitchen Challenge, we show you how to significantly reduce your exposure to these harmful particles
Consumer Reports has partnered with The Guardian US to create this seven-week Detox Your Kitchen Challenge.
Few synthetic substances are as ubiquitous across the globe as microplastics. From the peak of Mt. Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench and everywhere in between, tiny bits of plastic are accumulating.
Your dinner plate—and your stomach—have not been spared.
Recent studies have found microplastics in all meat and produce products tested, and levels in the food supply will only continue increasing as policymakers fail to rein in plastic production.
The cold truth is that there’s no avoiding microplastics in your diet. But there are some simple steps you can take to significantly reduce your exposure to these gnarly particles. Armed with years of knowledge from reporting on toxic chemicals for The Guardian, I can help you get started.
Where Microplastics Hide in Your Food
Microplastics are either intentionally added to consumer goods or are products of plastics breaking down. The particles contain any number of 20,000 plastic chemicals, and thousands present health risks. BPA, phthalates, and PFAS are a few that you may have heard about. Consumer Reports’ tests have found some of those chemicals in food, food packaging, bottled water, and tap water.
Check Out Other Installments in the Detox Your Kitchen Challenge
Week 1: Nix the Pesticides in Your Food. Week 2: Shopping for Safer, Healthier Meat. Week 3: Lower the Risk from Chemicals in Seafood. Week 5: Clean Up Your Tap Water. Week 6: Opt for Safer Kitchenware. Week 7: Safer Ways to Clean Your Kitchen.
The Health Risks
The dangers of microplastics are coming into sharper focus. Recent research points to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke and even various cancers, among other issues. The particles have been found throughout the human body, even crossing the brain and placental barriers.
Meanwhile, some microplastic chemicals, like PFAS, are among the most toxic synthetic substances and are linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption, and developmental problems in fetuses and young children.
Simple Ideas for Reducing Microplastics in Your Diet
You won’t be able to eliminate every microplastic from your food and kitchen. To maintain your sanity, keep a few things in mind. It’s best to focus on microplastic sources that aren’t essential and are easier to remove. And you don’t have to change everything at once—take your time.
Avoiding plastic at the grocery store is an easy place to start. Buy ketchup in a glass jar or greens bundled with a rubber band instead of wrapped in plastic. Try using cloth or reusable produce bags to avoid single-use plastic bags.
Do the same at home. Ditch your plastic kitchenware for wood cutting boards or glass containers, for example.
Do your best to avoid water bottled in plastic; cans or glass bottles may be better. Filtering tap water that you cook with or drink at home can also help. Although filtration technology is still being developed, reverse osmosis systems seem to be the most promising for removing microplastics from drinking water, even though their components are also made of plastic. (We’ll also have more on filtration systems in a forthcoming installment.)
Zero in on staples in your diet and research whether there are ways to avoid microplastics in them. For instance, I eat a lot of rice, so I rinse it with filtered water before cooking, something that has been found to reduce microplastic levels by up to 40 percent. When possible, I buy the greens for my daily smoothie at a farmers market and bread from a baker where they aren’t wrapped in single-use plastics, and I grab produce like tomatoes that are loose instead of in plastic packaging.
Keep hot food away from plastic. This is a big one: Chemicals and microplastics leach at significantly higher rates under high heat, so don’t put hot food or liquid in plastic, which could quickly contaminate your dinner.
Try heating frozen dinners in a microwave or oven-safe glass container. Paper coffee cups are lined with plastic that sheds at shocking levels, so take a stainless steel cup or thermos to your local coffee shop instead. Many French presses or drip coffee makers contain plastic parts, but I found a French press with no plastic and a plastic-free pour-over. Avoid boiling rice in bags, and if you’re a regular tea drinker, seek out brands that use nonplastic or nylon bags.
You've Got Questions, We Have Answers
Which Foods Contain the Highest Levels?
Consumer Reports’ testing has found that fast food tends to have the highest levels of plastic chemicals, likely due, in part, to packaging and higher fat content that leaches at higher rates. There are also more opportunities for microplastics to get into ultraprocessed foods.
Are Veggies Grown in Your Garden Safer?
Potentially. Make sure to steer clear of fertilizers made from biosolids. These are a mix of human feces and industrial waste, and have contaminated farmland with microplastics and PFAS. Sierra Club found PFAS in some common biosolids brands it tested and recommends avoiding them. Also, hoses are often made with plastic, so I recommend biodegradable polyurethane hoses as a good alternative.
Goals for the Week
• Identify one plastic item in your kitchen to replace with a plastic-free version and keep up the practice over time.
• When you go to the grocery store, look for opportunities to buy products that are packaged in glass instead of plastic. Condiments are a great place to start.
• Stretch goal: Pick a plastic-free birthday gift for a microplastic-averse loved one. Maybe replace their plastic food processor or blender with one that has a glass pitcher.
