Clearly, it’s a good idea to reduce your exposure to the toxic components associated with plastics. But how, when it’s everywhere? According to Runwal,¹ the primary source of our exposure seems to be food and water. Thus, diet will be the focus of this and the next two blog posts, which I’ll be publishing over the next couple of weeks. In the first post, I’ll lay out what the issues are and why we should be concerned. In the second post, I’ll discuss how plastics get into our food and beverages, from seed and soil to packaging to plate. In the final post, I’ll discuss what you can do about it and include a list of resources to help you navigate this issue.

Bottom line, there’s hope. As the movie showed, many of the couples were able to reduce their body burdens. It’s not easy but it’s doable. Let’s get started.

What exactly is in plastic and why should we be worried about it?

Over ten thousand chemicals may be used in manufacturing of plastic food contact materials, as well as those added unintentionally through contamination or degradation. Few of these have been adequately studied for safety.² In addition to chemicals leaching from plastics, we’re learning that we’re also exposed to tiny particles of plastic that break off from plastics or that are added to personal care products. These include microplastics (< 5mm, MPs), which are smaller than a pencil eraser, down to nanoplastics (<1 µm, NPs), which are at least 80x smaller than the diameter of a human hair.Finally, plastics found in the environment provide excellent surfaces for toxic chemicals like PCBs and dioxins to absorb onto. These may wind up in the water we drink or be taken up by plants and animals that form the base of our diet.

Chemicals and particles associated with plastics have been detected in more than 90% of the U.S. population tested.³Microplastics have been found in the blood, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, human milk, placenta, and testicles and semen.¹ They’ve been linked to declining sperm quality,⁴ as well as earlier birth outcomes, impaired ovarian function, and earlier fertility decline in women.^5,6 Studies have also documented links between plastic exposure to cancer, cardiovascular damage, and brain impairment.^7,1

Some good news: many of the chemicals associated with plastics, like phthalates and bisphenols, are excreted within a few days, so if you reduce your exposure, your body can clear these quickly. However, though researchers have measured microplastics in urine and fecal matter,¹ meaning we can excrete them, I haven’t seen evidence for how long these particles stay in our body, especially once they’ve deposited into our organs or in arterial plaque. If they take a long time to clear, they could build up and, with continued exposure, cause greater health impacts, making it even more important to avoid exposure to them.

Next up, Part 2: how plastics get into our food and beverages.

References

1. Runwal, P. 25 November 2024. Should we be worried about the microplastics in our bodies? Chem. Engineer. News. Vol 102.
2. Muncke, J. et al. 2020. Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement. Environ. Health. 19:25.
3. Edwards, L. et al. 2022. Phthalate and novel plasticizer concentrations in food items from U.S. fast food chains: a preliminary analysis. J. Exposure Sci. & Environ. Epidem. 32:366-373.
4. Swan, S. H. 2025. Environmental exposures to chemicals and their consequences for human fertility. Bull World Health Organ. 103:236-237.
5. Buckley, J. P. et al. 2026. Gestational Exposure to 10 Classes of Priority Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort. JAMA. Vol 9.
6. Da Silva et al. 2026. The ovarian cost of convenience – Human studies on phthalate exposure and ovarian function. FEBS Press. 
7. Yates et al. 2024. A toxic relationship: ultra-processed foods & plastics. Global Health. Vol 20.