The average person could be ingesting a credit card worth of plastic every week. Microplastics has been linked to inflammation, respiratory problems and cancerFrom kitchen utensils to home furnishings and even children's toys, microplastics are everywhere — although you won't be able to see them.
Cleaning Even dust sitting in the crevices of your home can contain microplastics, particles that are less than 5mm wide.Inevitably, some of this comes from exposure in our own homes, given we spend so much time there. So, in theory, vacuuming and dusting regularly will help stop you ingesting as much.
The average person could be ingesting about 5g of plastics a week, which is the equivalent to eating a credit card A 2023 American Chemical Society study found plastic boards to be a substantial source of microplastics in human food. Professor Krause says using a plastic chopping board could increase your exposure to microplastics in your food and says wooden boards would cause 'less micro-plastic generation through abrasion'.
Australian researchers developed an algorithm to count how many tiny particles are released by such invisible scratches caused by day to day use. Advertisement Filter waterIn Europe about 72 per cent of tap water samples contains plastic fibres, according to an analysis by WWF in 2019.But boiling and filtering water is one way of stripping the majority of these microplastics from what we drink.
At high temperatures, limescale will become solid, effectively 'encrusting' the plastic particles, and making them easier to remove through a filter, the study found. But she reassured that you are unlikely to reach these toxic levels outside of an industrial setting where such fabrics are manufactured.'Carpets have been associated with an increased number of microplastics in the air in homes, so swapping to non plastics carpets or removing carpets could reduce microplastics numbers,' Professor Couceiro told MailOnline.