How Many Microplastics Are You Eating? 10 Foods With More Than You Think
Published on: 2025-05-23 10:00:04
Microplastics have been under the microscope lately, especially considering it's estimated that people consume between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles yearly. That number goes up to 74,000 to 121,000 particles when you include those we breathe in. Microplastics have become such a part of our lives that a new study found a plastic spoon's worth of tiny plastic shards in human brain tissue. That sounds bad, but exactly how bad is it?
To dig deeper, we spoke with a family physician about what counts as a "safe" level of microplastics, which foods have the most and things you can do to limit your exposure.
How many microplastics are too many?
"There is no officially established 'safe' or 'unsafe' level of microplastic intake. It makes sense to want your exposure to be as low as possible," Dr. Joseph Mercola, a board-certified family medicine osteopathic physician, said in an email.
Microplastics can enter our food due to contamination where the food was grown, raised or proces
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