Microplastics: Are we facing a new health crisis – and what can be done about it?

This article has been updated.

There's a growing body of evidence about how widespread microplastics have become – across land, sea and air – and the impact they could be having on human health. Some experts believe we are in the midst of a plastic health crisis.

Microplastics have now been detected throughout the human body – including the blood, lungs, liver and even lower limb joints. Scientists have found evidence of microplastics in our brains, and further studies have revealed how these microplastics are accumulating and rapidly rising in our brains.

Meanwhile, a recent study in the US state of Oregon found microplastics in 98.9% of seafood samples. To give some perspective, it is estimated that the average person can eat, drink or breathe between 78,000 and 211,000 microplastic particles every year.

Microplastics are pieces of plastic debris under five millimetres in length, explains the US National Ocean Service.

Some – such as microbeads, typically found in cosmetics and toiletry products – are designed to be small, while other plastic gradually breaks down to this size.

Although microbeads are now banned in many countries, the problem of plastic pollution is far from resolved. According to UNEP, up to 23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into the world's water systems every year.

Microplastics come in various forms, each with its own sources and environmental impacts. Primary microplastics are intentionally manufactured small plastic particles, including the microbeads used in cosmetics and the plastic pellets (nurdles) used in industrial manufacturing.

Plastic glitter, often made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is another common primary microplastic that poses environmental concerns.

Microfibers, typically shed from synthetic clothing during washing, are a significant contributor to microplastic pollution.

Secondary microplastics form from the breakdown of larger plastic items - such as abandoned fishing gear, plastic litter - through weathering and environmental exposure.

Then there are nanoplastics, which are even smaller particles, and therefore harder to detect and study. One recent piece of research in the Alps discovered that nanoplastic particles from vehicle tyre wear are polluting the mountains there.

These tiny particles are often small enough to pass through water filtration systems, and we can then unknowingly ingest them.

Equally, research has shown that such microplastics can be transported in the atmosphere, spreading to even the remotest corners of the Earth.

In the ocean, these particles can be eaten by marine life – from fish to shellfish. A 2022 study found broken-down microplastics in blue mussels off the Australian coast. The research added to the findings of an earlier study that concluded, 'if you eat mussels, you eat microplastics'.

And it's not just marine life that could be affected. Microplastics have been found in foodstuffs including honey, tea and sugar, as well as in fruit and vegetables.

Microplastics are also making their way onto farmland through sewage sludge being used as fertilizer, according to a Cardiff University study. The BBC reports that much of this will then end up in waterways as a result of runoff from the top layer of soil.

While the full extent of the environmental and health impacts of microplastics are not yet known, a 2024 study points to the possibility that they can increase the likelihood of heart attack, stroke or death. Another links microplastics with inflammation and noncommunicable diseases.

In a recent study on mice, real-time imaging showed microplastics moving through their brains and blocking blood vessels. While the researchers said it would be "premature" to suggest that the process could replicate in human brains, the authors concluded that "the potential long-term effects of microplastics on neurological disorders such as depression and cardiovascular health are concerning".

The link between air pollution and premature births has already been established, but a new study in the US has found both microplastics and nanoplastics in higher concentrations in the placentas from premature births than in those births that went to full term. “Our study hints at the possibility that the accumulation of plastics could be contributing to the occurrence of preterm birth,” Professor Kjersti Aagaard told The Guardian.

Some researchers say we're in the lull before the storm and that "alarmingly, a turning point is expected in the future, signalling a significant microplastic pollution outbreak if effective measures are not taken to mitigate it".

With pollution ranked in the World Economic Forum's top 10 greatest threats to the world in the short and long term, concerted and urgent action is required if the world is to meet Sustainable Development Goal 14 to “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds” by 2025.

Certain measures are already in place. The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 prohibits the manufacturing, packaging and distribution of rinse-off cosmetics and non-prescription drugs (such as toothpaste) containing plastic microbeads.

In March 2022, at the UN Environment Assembly, 175 nations agreed to end plastic pollution. The legally binding agreement addresses the issues of single-use plastic and recycling technology, among others. In 2023, the European Union banned the sale of loose plastic glitter. And in January 2025, the Forum's Global Plastic Action Partnership announced that seven new countries had joined the world's largest programme tackling plastic pollution.

In the meantime, individuals and companies are coming up with innovative solutions.

For example, a team of researchers at Sichuan University has developed a tiny robot fish that can collect microplastics. The BBC reported on a removal method using vegetable oil, iron oxide and magnets. Following 5,000 tests, the technique was found to be 87% effective at extracting microplastics from water.

Operation CleanSweep and the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash-Free Waters initiative are both working to remove harmful human-made rubbish from the ocean. The latter just produced the third part of its ‘National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution’.

The Forum's Global Plastic Innovation Network champions 18 different solutions to the plastic waste problem, including Wasser, which has developed a system that can remove 95% of microplastics from water, and Orgro Fibre, which makes biodegradable sapling bags to replace the single-use plastic ones commonly used in gardening centres.