Microplastics and nanoplastics are now found everywhere from marine life to soil, and plastic packaging represents one of the most direct and recurrent pathways of exposure in everyday life. A new study from Earth Action found that 1,000 tonnes of microplastics and nanoplastics move from plastic packaging into food and drinks every year, equivalent to the weight of more than 600 cars. For frequent consumers, that equals more than a gram of particles ingested annually.
Plastic bottles present a particular concern. Bottles are one of the bigger shedders of microplastics because they are carried around, squeezed, crushed, dropped, and exposed to heat and UV rays. Even unscrewing and screwing a bottle cap can trigger shedding.
The science around health impact, however, remains contested. Regulatory agencies including the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority state that PET plastic is chemically inert and safe. Laura Stewart, executive director of NAPCOR, the trade association for PET packaging in North America, argues that many studies examining microplastics face significant methodological limitations, including inconsistent measurement standards and challenges in distinguishing environmental contamination from packaging sources.
Stewart contends that the Earth Action report goes beyond what current scientific evidence supports and assigns disproportionate responsibility to PET packaging. The Earth Action report relies on modeled exposure assumptions and selective interpretations that diverge significantly from widely cited peer-reviewed reviews on microplastics exposure.
Earth Action's Julien Boucher counters that microplastics and nanoplastics are detected everywhere in food and are now being found in the human body, regardless of proof gaps on health effects. Particles can be smaller than 150 micrometres, small enough to penetrate cell barriers and potentially interact with biological systems.
Both sides agree on one thing: more research is needed. Regulatory and scientific bodies emphasize the need for validated testing methods, harmonized definitions, and material-specific analysis before drawing conclusions about risk.