The Silent Journey of Microplastics

Your coffee in a cardboard cup, the air you breathe in the office in the afternoon, the pillowcase you rest your head on at night…We all know that plastics pollute the environment. But there’s a new reality we need to learn: microplastics!

Plastics are in every corner of our lives: from cosmetics to food packaging, from electronics to agriculture and medicine… Their practicality makes them indispensable. In the last 50 years, plastic production has increased 20 times. The majority of the 9,200 million tons of plastic produced so far is still with us. Because plastic does not disappear; it only breaks down, crumbles, and seeps into the most intimate corners of our lives.

What are these tiny things?

Fragments smaller than 5 mm that come from plastics breaking down over time are called microplastics, and those smaller than 1 micrometer are called nanoplastics.

• Secondary microplastics: Formed when large plastics break down due to sunlight, waves, and environmental factors.

• Primary microplastics: Produced intentionally, such as microbeads added to beauty products.

The microplastics in the cosmetic products we use quickly end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans.

They’re Everywhere

It may be hard to imagine how much microplastic is produced by the plastics present in our daily lives. Let’s make it clearer with a simple example. A coffee cup lid exposed to UV light for just 56 days releases millions of nanoparticles. PET bottles you forget under the sun break into pieces. In other words, the “decay” of plastics we use daily comes back to us like an invisible rain.

They are in the facial cleansers we use every morning and evening, in colored cosmetics, and even in air-blasting technology (used to remove rust and paint). Widely used and unrecycled plastics are found in oceans, agricultural soils, rivers, and even in the poles!

A study showed that the concentration of microplastics is much higher in indoor environments like homes, offices, and cars. We inhale 68,000 particles daily!

According to research published in 2025, tea contains 60 particles/liter of microplastics, coffee 43. On average, an adult consumes 100 particles per day just from hot drinks.

They Pollute Our Cells!

We are exposed to microplastics through food, air, and skin. But what do these particles do inside our bodies?

A study published in Nature found that a spoonful of plastic can accumulate in brain tissue. They also noticed that since 2016, the amount of microplastics in our brains has increased by 50%. This increase is especially noticeable in dementia patients.

The University of New Mexico found 51 times more microplastics than normal in the vascular plaques of individuals who had suffered a stroke.

What Can We Do?

The majority of the plastics we produce are single-use. We make them for temporary convenience, but we pay the price for decades. Microplastics seep into every corner of nature, reach our tables, and accumulate in our cells. Small acts of awareness can change more than we think.

• Consume less plastic: Consider alternatives, choose reusable products.

• Quit single-use items: Especially avoid those that cannot be recycled.

• Increase recycling: Recycle the plastics we cannot avoid.

• Take a political stance: Raise awareness in your community, avoid brands that use unnecessary packaging.

Microplastics are no longer a subject to be ignored. They are a risk that directly shapes our lives. These steps, though small, are our strongest weapon against this invisible enemy.

References and Suggested Readings:

Al-Mansoori, M., Harrad, S., & Abdallah, M. A. E. (2025). Synthetic microplastics in hot and cold beverages from the UK market: Comprehensive assessment of human exposure via total beverage intake. Science of the Total Environment, 996, 180188.

Andrady, A. L. (2017). The plastic in microplastics: A review. Marine pollution bulletin, 119(1), 12-22.

Bhagat, J., Nishimura, N., Shimada, Y., 2021. Toxicological interactions of microplastics/ nanoplastics and environmental contaminants: current knowledge and future perspectives. J. Hazard Mater. 405, 123913

Borrelle, S. B., Ringma, J., Law, K. L., Monnahan, C. C., Lebreton, L., McGivern, A., ... & Rochman, C. M. (2020). Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution. Science, 369(6510), 1515-1518.

Cverenkárová, K., Valachovičová, M., Mackuľak, T., Žemlička, L., & Bírošová, L. (2021). Microplastics in the food chain. Life, 11(12), 1349.

Dong, H., Wang, L., Wang, X., Xu, L., Chen, M., Gong, P., & Wang, C. (2021). Microplastics in a remote lake basin of the Tibetan Plateau: Impacts of atmospheric transport and glacial melting. Environmental science & technology, 55(19), 12951-12960.

Duis K, Coors A (2016) Microplastics in the aquatic and terrestrial environment: sources (with a specific focus on personal care products), fate and effects. Environ Sci Eur 28:1–25.

Hale, R. C., Seeley, M. E., La Guardia, M. J., Mai, L., & Zeng, E. Y. (2020). A global perspective on microplastics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(1), e2018JC014719.

He, T., Qu, Y., Yang, X., Liu, L., Xiong, F., Wang, D., ... & Sun, R. (2023). Research progress on the cellular toxicity caused by microplastics and nanoplastics. *Journal of Applied Toxicology*, *43*(11), 1576-1593.

Marfella, R., Prattichizzo, F., Sardu, C., Fulgenzi, G., Graciotti, L., Spadoni, T., ... & Paolisso, G. (2024). Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events. New England Journal of Medicine, 390(10), 900-910.

Nihart, A. J., Garcia, M. A., El Hayek, E., Liu, R., Olewine, M., Kingston, J. D., ... & Campen, M. J. (2025). Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains. Nature medicine, 31(4), 1114-1119.

Yakovenko, N., Pérez-Serrano, L., Segur, T., Hagelskjaer, O., Margenat, H., Le Roux, G., & Sonke, J. E. (2025). Human exposure to PM10 microplastics in indoor air. Plos one, 20(7), e0328011.