The news about nurdles is not good. These manufactured plastic pellets–the building blocks of the plastics industry–are finding their way into our bodies, even deep into our brains. Less than five millimeters across, nurdles are about the size of lentils.
Other microplastics (nurdle-size fibers and beads) and invisible nanoplastics (molecule size) primarily originate from the degradation of larger plastic items, such as packaging, clothing, tires, and other everyday items. Some are directly added to products like paint, cleansers, and toothpaste. Minuscule nanoplastics are particularly dangerous. They can cross biological barriers and enter human organs, even penetrating the blood-brain barrier.
A groundbreaking paper published last year by Nature Medicine found that the amount of microplastics in human brains appears to be increasing over time. Concentrations rose by 50 percent between 2016 and 2024. Astonishingly, the study also determined that the human brain may contain up to a spoon’s worth of tiny plastic shards: about seven grams, or the weight of a plastic spoon. Other scientists have estimated that adults ingest the equivalent of one credit card per week in microplastics.
“Plastic never goes away–it just breaks down into finer and finer particles,” says a Stanford pediatrician. (“Microplastics and our health: What the science says.” January 29, 2025, Stanford Medicine News) These particles are in our water, air, food, clothes, and ecosystems. They don’t dissolve in water and can’t be filtered out during sewage treatment.
Whether manufactured or the product of weathering and use, plastic fragments have been found everywhere–from Mt. Everest to the Mariana Trench, the Earth’s deepest ocean trench. They’ve shown up in blood, baby poop, lungs, placentas, breast milk, and reproductive organs. The health impacts of microplastics are largely unknown, but early research has linked them to higher risks of heart attack, cancer, stroke, reproductive problems, and death.
We need less plastic in our brains and in our lives–not more. Yet, the fossil fuel and chemical industries are investing billions in expanding plastic production; it’s their “Plan B” for new growth to maintain profits in the face of declining fuel sales. Over 99 percent of plastic is made from petrochemicals.
Throwaway Living
When I was a child in the post-war 1950s, the mass production of plastics exploded. My parents, who lived through the Great Depression, were savers and reusers, but they were also enamored with the new products manufactured with plastic. “Better living through chemistry,” proclaimed the enticing advertisements.
“Throwaway Living” was the title of a story in Life magazine (1955) that extolled the virtues of single-use plastics as a “godsend for housewives drowning in chores.” At the same time, plastics became essential for modern medicine, construction, clothing, and more. As the environmental movement gained traction in the 1960s, researchers and activists warned about plastic trash in oceans and the tiny pieces observed in marine plankton.
Of uncertain origin, the whimsical term “nurdle” appeared in the 1970s. The term “microplastics” was coined in 2004, as plastic trash proliferated on beaches, in drinking water supplies, and in human bodies–and as nurdles continued to spill into communities from accidents and sloppy handling during transportation. Two decades later, there are still no federal regulatory limits for microplastics in waterways and no standardized thresholds to define what concentrations are considered “acceptable” or “too high.” Industry lobbyists are good at what they do.
In early April, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services announced (surprisingly) that the EPA would include microplastics as a priority on its Contaminant Candidate List, a tool under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Such a listing indicates there may be new research, funding and future decisions about this class of pollutants. This is a good first step, but given the abysmal record of the Trump regime on environmental issues, I’m not holding my breath for any meaningful progress.
How to Reduce Microplastics
In the research for this column, I learned that I have been unintentionally aiding the introduction of microplastics into my body and that of my family. (Mother guilt never goes away, even when children are grown.)
I regularly reuse old plastic containers–storing, freezing, and microwaving food in them. Ditto for take-out food. Plastic food storage bags can apparently release thousands of microplastics and millions of nano per square centimeter into food. Also, I occasionally use a plastic cutting board. I don’t always rinse rice. I use tea bags that probably have some plastic in them. I often buy fruit and vegetables unnecessarily wrapped in plastic. Grocery store packaging of food has got to change. And, I’ve got to change too!
On the positive side, I minimize my purchase of highly processed foods and never drink water in plastic bottles. A single liter of bottled water can contain 240,000 nanoplastic particles: a high concentration. Breaded shrimp is a big no-no, but I don’t buy it. I do love seafood, including filter-feeding shellfish. I eat a pretty high fiber diet, love Greek yogurt (probiotics), and consume antioxidants–all of which help remove microplastics from our bodies through natural excretion.
There’s more we can do. Refuse excessive plastic packaging and single-use plastics. Prioritize the purchase of clothes made from 100% natural, biodegradable fibers. Where possible, buy cotton (organic), linen, wool, hemp or silk, and avoid polyester, nylon, acrylic, and spandex.
Finally, we must demand that industry leaders and policymakers invest in the monitoring of our drinking water supplies for microplastics, to be followed by actions to disclose and reduce these contaminants. We need more facts, data, and science to protect ourselves, our families, and the environment.
