Microplastics in Everyday Life: How Much Do We Take In — and What Can We Do About It?

Microplastics in Everyday Life: How Much Do We Take In — and What Can We Do About It?

Microplastics are no longer a distant environmental issue. They have been found in oceans, rivers, soil, indoor dust, drinking water, and food. For many people, this raises a simple but important question: How much microplastic do we actually take in each year?

The honest answer is: we do not know exactly yet. Scientists are still working to improve how microplastics and nanoplastics are detected, measured, and assessed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that microplastics have been reported in several foods and beverages, including salt, seafood, sugar, beer, bottled water, honey, milk, and tea. At the same time, the FDA states that current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that the levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.

A widely shared claim once suggested that people may ingest about a credit card’s worth of plastic every week. Today, that figure is viewed with caution because the underlying estimates involve significant uncertainty.

For the United States, one often-cited 2019 study estimated that Americans may consume about 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles per year through selected foods. When inhalation is included, the estimate rises to about 74,000 to 121,000 particles per year. The same study found that people who meet their recommended water intake exclusively through bottled water may ingest an additional 90,000 microplastic particles per year, compared with about 4,000 particles for those who drink only tap water.

More recent research has also shown that bottled water can contain not only microplastics, but even smaller nanoplastic particles. A 2024 study reported an average of about 240,000 tiny plastic particles per liter of bottled water, around 90% of which were nanoplastics.

This does not mean we need to panic. The World Health Organization has emphasized that more research is needed to better understand the potential health effects of microplastics in drinking water. At the same time, it calls for reducing plastic pollution overall.

Where Do Microplastics Come From in Daily Life?

Microplastics may enter the body through food, drinks, air, and indoor dust. In everyday life, important sources may include plastic packaging, single-use bottles, highly processed foods, plastic food containers, synthetic textiles, and household dust.

The kitchen is one of the places where our choices matter most. Every day, food comes into contact with packaging, storage containers, cutting boards, cooking tools, and kitchen appliances. Especially when heat, fat, long storage times, or friction are involved, it makes sense to reduce direct contact between food and plastic wherever possible.

What Can We Do to Reduce Exposure?

A completely plastic-free life is hardly realistic. But many small choices can make a meaningful difference.

1. Choose tap water over single-use plastic bottles
In many parts of the United States, filtered tap water is a practical alternative to bottled water. Reducing bottled water use may help lower plastic waste and reduce exposure to plastic particles.

2. Do not heat food in plastic
Avoid microwaving food in plastic containers or placing plastic containers in hot water. Glass, stainless steel, and ceramic are better options.

3. Avoid storing hot or fatty foods in plastic
Soups, sauces, oils, and freshly cooked meals are better stored in glass or stainless steel once they have cooled.

4. Choose more whole and minimally processed foods
Whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables often have fewer processing and packaging steps than highly processed foods.

5. Replace plastic kitchen tools where it matters
Wooden spoons, stainless steel funnels, glass jars, ceramic bowls, and wooden cutting boards can help reduce plastic contact in everyday food preparation.

6. Reduce indoor dust
Regular ventilation, damp wiping, and vacuuming with a good filter can help reduce dust particles indoors.

Freshly Milled Flour: A Simple Step Toward a More Conscious Kitchen

Buying whole grains and milling flour at home is a return to a more original way of preparing food. Whole grains store well, require fewer processing steps, and become fresh flour only when you need it.

This is where Original Salzburg Grain Mills fit naturally into a more conscious home kitchen. Handcrafted in Austria, they are built with natural granite millstones. Salzburg Grain Mills emphasizes that it uses natural granite instead of artificial corundum-ceramic grinding stones. Each pair of stones is worked by hand, making every set unique.

For those who want to reduce plastic contact in the milling area as much as possible, selected Salzburg Grain Mills are available almost completely plastic-free. The key difference is the mounting of the lower millstone: instead of a food-grade plastic support plate, a stainless steel support plate is used. Where the flour is milled, only local beech wood, granite, and stainless steel come into contact with grain and flour. Naturally, power cords, switches, and certain components in the motor area cannot be made entirely without plastic.

A grain mill alone will not solve the global microplastics problem. But it can be one meaningful step toward a kitchen built around natural materials, fewer packaged foods, less unnecessary plastic contact, and greater appreciation for real ingredients.

For each handful of flour — and for a kitchen that stays closer to the source.