What can you do about it?
There isn’t much we can do about microplastics that are already in our air and water.
Though an air purifier or water filter may reduce the larger plastic particles, this wouldn’t remove the smaller nanoparticles.
However, there is a way to prevent this problem from getting worse in the future: produce and use less plastic. This is where we, as individuals can make a difference by reducing the amount of plastic we use.
This is particularly important with single-use, disposable plastic products and packaging.
There are many ways to reduce the amount of disposable plastic you use. You can cut down on packaged junk food, stop buying bottled water and stop using zip lock and freezer bags…just to list a few. Buy unpackaged local or organic fruit and vegetables, get a quality water filter, depending on your workplace you can also push for an HEPA air filter. Take a stand, and leave products with excessive plastic packaging on the shelf.
In addition, for every product made of single-use plastic, there is almost always a reusable alternative (cloth shopping bags, stainless steel or glass drinking bottles etc.)
Reducing the disposable plastics that we use have two benefits: it reduces the amount of waste plastic going into the environment, and also reduces the amount of plastic you’re exposed to on a daily basis.
This blog post is an insight into the findings of this study:
Yee MS-L, Hii L-W, Looi CK, Lim W-M, Wong S-F, Kok Y-Y, Tan B-K, Wong C-Y, Leong C-O. Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health. Nanomaterials. 2021; 11(2):496. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11020496