By KIM BELLARD
Vaccine experts are going rogue in response to RFK Jr’s attacks on vaccine safety. Health insurers promise – honest…this time – to make prior authorizations less burdensome (although not, of course, to eliminate them). ChatGPT and other LLMs may be making us worse at learning. So many things to write about, but I find myself wanting to return to a now-familiar topic: microplastics.
I first wrote about microplastics in 2020, and subsequent findings caused me to write again about their dangers at least once a year since. Now there are, yet again, new findings, and, nope, the news is still not good.
A new study, from researchers at the Food Packaging Forum, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and published in npj Science of Food reviewed 103 previous studies about the impact food packaging and “food contact articles (FCAs)” can have on micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in our food. They found that even normal use — such as opening a plastic bottle, steeping a plastic tea bag, or chopping on a plastic cutting board – can contaminate foodstuffs.
“This is the first systematic evidence map to investigate the role of the normal and intended use of food contact articles in the contamination of foodstuffs with MNPs,” explains Dr. Lisa Zimmermann, lead author and Scientific Communication Officer at the Food Packaging Forum. “Food contact articles are a relevant source of MNPs in foodstuffs; however, their contribution to human MNP exposure is underappreciated.”
Their collected data are freely accessible through the FCMiNo dashboard., which allows users to filter included data by the type of FCA, the main food contact material, the medium analyzed, and whether MNPs were detected, and if so, for their size and polymer type.
Removing the plastic from items you purchase at the grocery store may contaminate it with microplastics, as might steeping a tea bag. Simply opening jars or bottles of milk can as well, and repeated opening and closing of either glass or plastic bottles sheds “untold amounts” of micro- and nanoplastics into the beverage, according to Dr. Zimmerman, who further noted: “The research shows the number of microplastics increases with each bottle opening, so therefore we can say it’s the usage of the food contact article which leads to micro- and nanoplastic release,”
Dr. Zimmerman told The Washington Post: “Plastic is present everywhere. We need to know what we can do.” Examples of what she suggests we can try to do include avoiding storing food in plastic whenever possible and avoiding heating plastic containers. She admitted, though: “We have not really understood all the factors that can lead to the release of micro and nanoplastics.”
One of her co-authors, Dr. Jane Muncke, Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the Food Packaging Forum, warns that ultraprocessed foods carry more risk of contamination: “There’s a higher number of manufacturing steps with ultraprocessed foods, which can increase the contact time with plastic food processing equipment, thus increasing the chance of micro- and nanoplastic migration.”
Dr. Muncke believes their research is a step in the right direction:
This systematic evidence map helps fill gaps in knowledge on the source of MNPs in foodstuffs. However, it also shows that additional research is needed to better characterize MNP migration related to FCA materials and uses. Importantly, implementing a harmonized testing and reporting framework is key to ensuring reliable and comparable data, which can inform future policy decisions.
David Andrews, acting chief science officer at the Environmental Working Group, told CNN: “This new study highlights food packaging and processing equipment as potentially significant sources of microplastic contamination in the food we eat, and ultimately in our bodies. This study should raise alarm bells.”
It should indeed.
Here’s another study which illustrates that our expectations about microplastics risks aren’t always valid. Researchers from France’s state food agency ANSES found that drinks sold in glass bottles actually have more microplastics in them than do ones in plastic bottles. Glass bottles of cola, lemonade, iced tea and beer had at least five times the amount of particles than plastic bottles or cans.
“We were expecting the opposite result when we compared the level of microplastics in different drinks sold in France,” said PhD student Iseline Chaib, who conducted the research. It turns out that the caps on the bottles are the issue. Ms. Chaib explained: “We then noticed that in the glass, the particles emerging from the samples were the same shape, colour and polymer composition – so therefore the same plastic – as the paint on the outside of the caps that seal the glass bottles.”
Remember what Dr. Zimmerman warned about the dangers of repeated opening and closing of bottles?
The team suggested manufacturers use a cleaning method of blowing air in the caps, and rising with water and alcohol, which could reduce contamination by 60 percent. Consumers were also advised to rinse caps before putting them back on.
Last but not least, a paper by West Virginia University biology undergraduate student Isabella Tuzzio tested the presence of microplastics in fish from central Appalachian streams — and found them in every fish sampled. Each fish averaged 40 pieces of microplastics.
The paper concludes: “Overall, we conclude that microplastic contamination is present and widespread in freshwater ecosystems in North Central and surrounding Appalachian regions throughout three major watersheds (the Monongahela, Cheat, and Ohio watersheds)…Potential sources of microplastic pollution point to agricultural activity, wastewater treatment, and atmospheric deposition.”
“Microplastics are coming from everyday sources like synthetic fibers from laundry and plastic beads in exfoliating face washes,” Ms. Tuzzio said. “They’re now everywhere, from our streams to remote deserts and even the human body.”
She thinks we should be worried:
These plastics are small, but their impact is massive. They carry pollutants, heavy metals and antibiotics. And while the microplastics are spread out in smaller fish, the bigger fish eat those smaller fish. As you work your way up the food chain, there are heavily concentrated levels of these plastics. It’s a problem for them and for us, too.
I’m plenty worried. We know that microplastics are everywhere, from the bottom of the ocean to the top of atmosphere, and everywhere in between. We know that they’re throughout our food system, and throughout our bodies. We don’t have enough data yet on exactly what the health risks of all this exposure are, but we have enough evidence that it is not good.
I’ll grant that microplastics are on RFK Jr’s radar, but I sure wish he’d move it ahead of undermining trust in vaccines or removing food dyes.
Kim is a former emarketing exec at a major Blues plan, editor of the late & lamented Tincture.io, and now regular THCB contributor
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