25-10 - Flipbook - Page 23
October 2025
Once you start looking for them, the exposure points for microplastics can quickly
feel overwhelming. But, importantly, it is also possible to make changes to reduce
the amount of microplastics we are exposed to in our kitchens.
"There's a lot of low-hanging fruit in your house that's really easy to address," says
Sheela Sathyanarayana, a professor of paediatrics and adjunct professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington and
Seattle Children's Research Institute.
"I do feel like it gives people a sense of control over their own lives, and we do
have that a little bit more than we might think."
One study of 109 countries found the amount of these plastics people typically
consumed in 2018 was more than six times what it was in 1990. Microplastics can
get into our food when plants take them in by the roots, or animals consume
them in feed.
"If you farm on a piece of land that was previously industrial and the soil is contaminated, [there is] potential for those plants to accumulate the contaminants in
the soil," says Sathyanarayana. Once that the crops are harvested, there are
many more opportunities for contamination during processing. "Factories use a
huge amount of plastic to be effective and to have high throughput for their
products."
For some foods, it is possible to get rid of some of the microplastics before you eat
them. One study in Australia found that people were typically consuming 3-4mg
of plastic per serving of home-cooked rice, and up to 13mg per serving of precooked rice. The microplastics were just as present in rice that was packaged in
paper, as in rice that came in plastic packaging. However, the researchers found
that rinsing the rice reduced the microplastics served up by 20-40%. Washing
meat and fish, too, can reduce microplastics 3 but not eliminate them.
For other foods, rinsing is impossible. Salt often contains microplastics due to contamination at mining and processing points. A 2018 study found that 36 out of the
39 salt brands analysed contained microplastics. Sea salt had the highest levels of
microplastics, likely due to the high levels of microplastic pollution in the world's
lakes, reservoirs, rivers and oceans.
Both Sathyanarayana and Annelise Adrian, a senior programme officer with the
plastics and material science team at World Wildlife Fund, are proponents of
switching to fresh, whole foods or, at the very least, avoiding ultra-processed
foods whenever possible. "The more ultra-processed a food is, the more likely it is
to have high plastic contamination, because there are so many touch points in a
factory making that food," says Sathyanarayana.
Reducing the amount of plastic in the food chain will take more than
changes within our individual kitchens. Globally, if the amount of plastic
debris polluting the environment was cut by 90%, it could halve the
