A new study has found that humans may be inhaling up to 68,000 microplastic particles every day, a number significantly higher than initial calculations.
The research suggests that the majority of exposure comes from indoor environments like home, where tiny plastic particles from everyday items like clothing are abundant in the air.
The study was published in the journal Plos One, which showed that humans can inhale as much as 68,000 tiny plastics every day.
However, previous studies showed that larger pieces of airborne microplastics do not cause a major health threat because they are not hung in the air as they move deep into the ventilatory system.
The smaller microplastic particles measuring between 1 and 10 micrometers pose a greater health risk to humans than larger particles.
Specifically, their smaller size allows them to penetrate the body’s natural defenses, and travel deep into the respiratory system.
Nadiia Yakovenko, a microplastics researcher and coauthor at the France’s University of Toulouse, said, “The size of the particle is small and well-known to transfer into tissue, which is dangerous because it can enter into the blood stream and go deep into the respiratory system.”
Microplastics are defined as tiny plastic particles that can be either added intentionally to consumer goods which are a product of larger plastic items.
These particles contain a variety of chemicals like up to 16,000 plastic chemicals of different kinds.
While many of these chemicals such as BPA, phthalates and Pfas pose serious health risks.
According to Yakovenko, concentration indoors is higher because it is a restricted environment with high levels of plastics in small areas and there is poor ventilation.
It is not possible to completely eliminate all microplastics, you can significantly reduce your exposure by making certain changes to your home environment such as reducing plastic items made from natural materials.
Hepa air filtration systems found to be effective at removing microplastics and opening windows may be a suitable approach for ventilation, but that could potentially allow in microplastic pollution from tires.