Americans Eat and Inhale Over 70,000 Plastic Particles Each Year According to a New Analysis

Plastics have for years been used to make nearly everything that surrounds us. But along the way, they escaped the confines of packaging and objects and settled in the environment, the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Americans are consuming and breathing in a lot of plastic, finds a new analysis published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Based on available data, Americans ingest an estimated 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles every year, the researchers found.

Plastics have for years been used to make nearly everything that surrounds us. But along the way, they escaped the confines of packaging and objects and settled in the environment, the food we eat and the air we breathe. Americans are consuming and breathing in a lot of plastic, finds a new analysis published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Based on available data, Americans ingest an estimated 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles every year, the researchers found.