How Much Should We Really Worry About Microplastics?
Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long. They are either purposely manufactured to be small, such as in cosmetics, or they result from larger plastic items breaking down, such as how wood breaks down into sawdust.
We worry about microplastics because studies have found these particles end up inside people’s bodies and are associated with a risk of different diseases. One often-quoted study found that microplastics were found in almost 60 percent of people who had carotid artery disease, and that the presence of these particles was associated with a more than four times greater risk of a heart attack, stroke, or death within three years.
