Microplastics are having a bit of a moment in the media.

We’ve found them in food. Water. Air. And, uncomfortably, inside the human body too.

So naturally, we’ve started trying to get rid of them.

Glass bottles are replacing plastic ones. Water filtration systems are getting increasingly sophisticated (and expensive). Social media is full of tips for reducing our exposure.

And now we’ve reached the inevitable next stage of any wellness concern:

The dreaded detox.

There are already supplements and protocols claiming to help remove microplastics from the body, despite researchers still trying to work out exactly what these tiny particles are doing once they get there.

Which leaves us in a tricky position.

We know enough about microplastics to have questions.

But do we know enough to start “detoxing” them?

Probably not.

So before we replace every plastic container in the kitchen and buy a water filter that costs more than the fridge, let’s look at what we actually know.

First things first, what are microplastics?

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, generally smaller than 5mm.

Go smaller again, and you get nanoplastics, which are exactly what they sound like: even tinier plastic particles.

Some come from larger plastics gradually breaking down. Others are released from things we use in everyday life.

They’ve been detected in food, drinking water, household dust and the air, meaning we can potentially be exposed through what we eat, drink and breathe.

Completely avoiding them, that’s going to be difficult.

We know they’re getting into our bodies. What we don’t know is what that means

This is where things get a little uncomfy.

Researchers have reported microplastics in human blood and various tissues. They’ve even been detected in carotid artery plaques.

Understandably, headlines like that get our attention.

But there’s an important difference between finding something in the body and knowing what it’s doing there.

Laboratory and animal research has raised questions around inflammation, oxidative stress and cellular effects. Human research is growing too, but there are still some fairly big gaps.

We’re still trying to understand which particles enter the body, where they go, how long they stay there and, importantly, what level of exposure could actually matter for our health.

Even measuring microplastics isn’t particularly straightforward. Different studies use different methods and can detect different types and sizes of particles, making comparisons surprisingly difficult.

So yes, microplastics deserve proper research.

But we’re a long way from having all the answers.

About those microplastic “detoxes”...

If there’s one word the wellness industry loves, it’s detox.

We’ve been told to detox our livers.

Our guts.

Our skin.

And apparently now we’re detoxing plastic.

The problem is, there currently isn’t an established clinical “microplastic detox” that we can all follow.

Researchers are looking at whether it might eventually be possible to help remove certain microplastics from the body. Early studies have explored approaches including chitosan and therapeutic plasma exchange, with some interesting findings.

But we’re talking very early research.

Therapeutic plasma exchange is also a medical procedure. It’s not something we’re casually adding between the Sunday face mask and meal prep.

And we certainly aren’t at the stage where we can say a particular supplement, juice cleanse or food will simply flush microplastics out of your body.

Despite what an advert on Instagram might suggest.

The science hasn’t quite caught up with the shopping basket.

Do water filters actually help?

Water has become a big part of the microplastics conversation.

Studies have detected microplastics in bottled drinking water, although switching entirely to tap water doesn’t necessarily make the issue disappear. They’ve been detected there too.

Some filtration methods can reduce microplastics in water, although how effective they are depends on the filtration method and the particles involved.

There’s even been research into something much simpler: boiling water.

Researchers have investigated whether boiling certain types of water and allowing particles to settle could reduce detectable microplastics, with the results appearing to depend partly on water hardness.

Interesting?

Definitely.

Am I about to start boiling every glass of water I drink?

Probably not.

Water is only one potential source of exposure, and we still don’t know how much reducing microplastics from one source changes our overall exposure or, more importantly, our long-term health.

So if you already wanted a water filter, great.

But you probably don’t need to panic-buy one tonight.

What’s actually worth changing?

This is probably the more useful bit.

Completely removing plastic from our lives isn’t realistic. And worrying about every plastic container we own isn’t particularly helpful either.

But there are some easy changes that make sense:

• Avoid unnecessarily heating food in plastic containers.
• Use glass or stainless steel when it’s practical.
• Avoid leaving plastic drinks bottles somewhere very hot for long periods.
• Keep using your reusable bottle.
• Don’t throw away perfectly usable things just because you’ve suddenly realised they contain plastic.

That last one is worth remembering.

Once you start reading about microplastics, it’s very easy to look around your kitchen and decide the entire Tupperware drawer needs to go.

It doesn’t.

I’d concentrate on the easy wins rather than trying to create a completely plastic-free life.

Your Tupperware drawer can survive another day

Microplastics deserve to be taken seriously.

Finding them in the human body quite rightly raises questions about what long-term exposure could mean for our health.

But uncertainty also creates a very convenient gap for wellness marketing to fill.

And buying more things isn’t necessarily the answer.

If swapping your plastic water bottle for glass is easy, go for it.

If you can avoid reheating yesterday’s dinner in an old takeaway tub, that’s another easy change.

But you don’t need to empty your kitchen cupboards, spend hundreds on a filtration system or buy a supplement promising to “detox” something scientists are still trying to understand.

For now, reducing unnecessary exposure where it’s easy and getting on with the rest of your life seems like a fairly sensible compromise.

Your Tupperware drawer can survive another day.

References

• Hong, Y., Gan, S.K.E. and Shim, B.S. (2025) ‘Microplastics in human body: accumulation, natural clearance, and biomedical detoxification strategies’, Biomedical Engineering Letters, 15(6), pp. 1013–1032.
• Cornelli, U., Belcaro, G. and Casella, C. (2026) ‘Reduction in Circulating Microplastics in Humans Following Gastrointestinal Sequestration by Chitosan: A Pilot Controlled Study’, Journal of Xenobiotics.
• ‘Can Plasma Exchange Be Used to Lower the Circulating Burden of Microplastics in Human Patients?’ (2026), Journal of Clinical Apheresis.
• Jin, T. et al. (2026) ‘Unraveling health risk of microplastics in bottled water: Evidence of rapid detection and cellular internalization by Nile Red staining’, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
• ‘Synthetic microplastics in hot and cold beverages from the UK market: Comprehensive assessment of human exposure via total beverage intake’ (2025), Science of the Total Environment.
• ‘Tissue-specific distribution of microplastics in human blood and carotid plaques: A paired sample analysis’ (2025), Environment International, 203, 109743.
• ‘Microplastics in the human body: A comprehensive review of exposure, distribution, migration mechanisms, and toxicity’ (2024), Science of the Total Environment.