Three essential things to know about microplastics – and how to avoid them

On a recent trip to New Orleans, the king cake baby became, for me, a symbol of plastic’s ubiquity in the food system. King cakes are a beloved Mardi Gras season sweet, and when bakers are done cooking them, they hide a small plastic baby in each. Whoever gets a slice with the baby in it receives good luck in the coming year.

I write about toxic chemicals for a living, so when I learned about the tradition, I let out a small groan while estimating how many microplastics the baby must be shedding into the cake.

Then I checked myself. The amount of plastic or chemicals that will leach into the slice where the baby ends up is small.

I look at these things holistically, and microplastics are everywhere. Having written about microplastics for years, I’ve developed some principles that guide my thinking on when to take steps to avoid them. I’ll share them below.

To go deeper, I also invite you to subscribe to the Guardian’s new seven-week newsletter course on detoxing your kitchen. It is created in collaboration with Consumer Reports, the leading independent consumer organization in the US, and offers guidance on everything from microplastics to fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood and kitchen cleaners.

1. You can’t avoid them completely

Microplastics are ubiquitous in the food system – seafood, water, produce, meat, beer, rice, and especially highly processed foods. Meanwhile, plastic kitchenware is a major source of contamination at home. It all adds up: by one estimate, we on average ingest about 3.8m microplastics annually, many through food.

The possible health impacts of microplastic exposure are still coming into focus, but some research has linked them to increased risk of heart attack and stroke, for instance, and there are scientists who suggest it is prudent to attempt to reduce exposure.

Some plastic will almost certainly end up in your food, no matter what you do. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to dodge every last one, and you don’t have to throw out everything in your kitchen today.

Instead, prioritize the easiest steps you can take to avoid the chemicals, like swapping out plastic kitchen utensils with items made with safer alternatives, such as wood and stainless steel, which are largely non-toxic materials. For example, if you have a plastic ladle, try this one made of stainless steel.

But also prioritize those situations in which there’s a consistent source of microplastics, or plastic chemicals, in your diet. Chemicals are most risky when there’s a steady exposure to them over time. For example, a friend just realized the espresso maker she uses three times a day has plastic pieces that are heated up. This is probably a big source of microplastics and plastic chemicals. She’s not throwing it out immediately, but she’s also starting to think about alternatives to a dose of microplastics three times daily. (My friend is looking into some plastic-free espresso makers highlighted here.)

2. Avoid heating plastic

Plastic can contain any of about 16,000 chemicals, thousands of which are thought to be “highly hazardous”, and those chemicals and microplastics can leach at much higher rates when they are heated or come into contact with hot or acidic food and drink.

The level at which plastic leaches into hot substances in some scenarios is rather astonishing – I recently came across research that showed that single-use paper coffee cups can shed trillions of bits of plastic when hot liquid is added. Similarly, tea bags can release billions of particles, and microwavable plastic is also a problem. Plastic utensils that briefly come into contact with hot pans are, in my view, a slightly lesser worry – but this is also easy to avoid, by getting new utensils.

3. Reduce plastic, even if you can’t totally avoid it

For years, I used a blender with a big plastic jar to make my morning smoothies. Plastic can shed at higher rates as the pieces are repeatedly used and become worn, and it recently dawned on me that I was probably getting more plastic than I wanted in my smoothie.

But I couldn’t find any plastic-free blenders. Lids and the components at the bottom that hold the blade and affix the jar to the base seem to universally be made of plastic.

You’ll run into similar scenarios in which there is no plastic-free alternative. When this happens, just do what you can. I ended up switching to a blender with a glass jar that didn’t remove all plastic from the process, but it significantly reduced the amount that comes into contact with my morning smoothie.

You’ll find the same problem with a food processor. They can be found with glass jars, but they also have plastic components. Water filtration systems are another great example – most are made of plastic, or have some plastic components. In some cases, this is the best that can be done, and that’s OK. Any step in the right direction is meaningful over the long term.

I’ll share more tips, including suggestions on cookware and cleaning products, in our Detox Your Kitchen newsletter.