The Growing Concern of Microplastics in Daily Life
From using the dishwasher to wearing polyester clothing, or drinking hot coffee out of a takeaway cup, Australians are repeatedly exposed to microplastics and nanoplastics. These fine particles have been detected in human breastmilk, blood, brains, and genitals, raising concerns about their impact on health. However, a leading expert is urging caution rather than fear.
Professor Mark Taylor, a plastics expert and Executive Director of Science and Insights at the NSW Department of Environment (DCCEEW), emphasizes that while we should be cautious, we don’t need to be hysterical about the effects of microplastics. He notes that Australians are living longer and healthier lives than ever before, so it’s important to take practical, sensible steps to reduce exposure without overreacting.
“We live in an industrialised world that is full of chemicals, and we accept that some of them are dangerous at certain levels of exposure,” he said. “We want to be cautious about the problem and take practical, sensible actions to reduce exposure because we can’t eliminate it.”
Could Microplastics Be Safe?
While Professor Taylor is not arguing that microplastics are safe, he acknowledges that historically, early concerns about chemicals dismissed by manufacturers were later scientifically supported, with DDT and asbestos as clear examples. Therefore, he recommends a precautionary approach to managing personal exposure.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, we are living in a sea of microplastics, and the consequences of exposure are as yet unknown,” he said. “And it’s the uncertainties that create anxiety in the community.”
Accepting Exposure to Other Chemicals
Thinking rationally about the issue, Professor Taylor points out that there are countless other questionable substances and situations we expose ourselves to because they make life easier, more enjoyable, or more comfortable. For example, people die in swimming pools, cars are damaging to us and the environment, but we permit them.
“There’s a range of things that we do that cause harm, but we take action to mitigate it, and it’s considered permissible use,” he said. Alcohol, cigarettes, fast food, and living in polluted cities are all examples of preferring lifestyle over health.
Plastics, he argues, are now essential to our everyday lives, and he describes them as “chemicals of comfort.” However, the world lacks a standardised, consistent way to measure their harm.
The Increasing Use of Plastic
In 1950, the world’s 2.5 billion people generated around 2 million tonnes of plastic. While the population has more than tripled to 8.3 billion, we aren’t using 6 million tonnes. Instead, the estimate is a staggering 460 million tonnes a year. By 2050, this number is predicted to almost double to 884 million tonnes.
As plastics become more prevalent, the likelihood of exposure to microplastics increases. Manufacturers are also constantly combining plastics with new chemicals. When concerns were raised about BPA in children’s toys and receipts, scientists simply tweaked them and created a very similar substance called BPB.
Concerned about the problem, in 2025, researchers in Germany called for 4,200 chemicals to be banned.
Measuring Dangerous Levels of Microplastics
Professor Taylor’s interest is now in quantifying the damage microplastics cause, so the public can make a calculated assessment of risk, and regulators can appropriately control them.
“I think we need fewer studies going forward about where microplastics are found, and more studies about the nature of the risk,” he said. “Then, knowing the full risk, we need to work out what’s acceptable.”
He notes that some people will always be more susceptible to microplastics than others, but for the general public, the challenge is understanding at what level they become problematic and how to measure that.
“It’s the dose that’s really significant and how we respond to it,” he said. “But it’s difficult because we don’t know what we’re measuring. Do we measure the number of particles, the size of the particles, the chemicals on the particles, the chemicals in the particles, or all of those things?”
