Microplastics & Plastophobia: Hidden Dangers and Detox Tips

Plastics are the miracle and the terror of our modern world. Modern plastics have only been around for about a century, but the industry has grown exponentially!

In the 1967 movie “The Graduate” there is a famous exchange between a successful businessman, Mr. McGuire, and a student, Benjamin, that goes something like this:

Mr. McGuire: “I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.”
Benjamin: “Yes, sir.”
Mr. McGuire: “Are you listening?”
Benjamin: “Yes, I am.”
Mr. McGuire: “Plastics.”
Benjamin: “Exactly how do you mean?”

The word “plastics” symbolized a booming industry and the promise of financial success. But, it also hinted at how artificial and empty it is to pursue such a path. This duality almost a century later is manifest in the modern world. Plastics are unavoidable. Many plastics never break down in the environment.[1]

Many that do break down may take more than a century. First, they break down into tiny pieces, called microplastics. These are particles of plastics less than five millimeters in size found everywhere. They float in the air as dust, and breathed into the lungs. They are in the food supply, grown into fruit and vegetables, as well as meat and fish. The deepest ocean waters are home to microplastics, as well as on the highest mountains.[2]

The word “plastic” means “moldable When neurologists say “the brain is plastic,” they don’t mean that it consists of polypropylene. But rather that it changes over time – it is moldable. Before our modern plastics, the world had natural moldable things like metals, glass, cellulose, and wax. Glass is silicon-based, and wax and cellulose are carbon-based.

Most modern plastics come from petroleum and are therefore carbon-based. The different types of plastics are different ways that the carbon-hydrogen-oxygen chains link. There is usually a “poly-“ before the type of structure to indicate that it is an indefinite chain of that structure. For example, “polycarbonate” is multiple carbonates linked together. “Polyethylene” is a long chain of ethylene molecules. These substances are not digested by humans because we don’t have any enzymes that can break the bonds, like the cellulose and other “fiber” in our diets. Other types of carbon-hydrogen-oxygen polymers are foods used by humans, such as starch, sugar, and fat only because we have the enzymes in our bodies to break them down.

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Are microplastics dangerous?

The answer to this question is: we don’t know.[3] There may be health risks, but it is not clear. There are many other types of carbon polymers that we cannot use that are called “fiber” in our diets. We don’t have the means to break them down, so they just go through the digestive system unchanged. This has been the assumption of the effect of plastics. But, here there is a caveat: Plastics may contain other chemicals that can be harmful.

A main issue with this question is that it may take a large amount to expose the toxic nature of plastic. Toxicity depends on the amount. People inject the most toxic substance, Botox, into their faces every three months or so to prevent and treat wrinkles in their face. This might sound ridiculous to use something so toxic for a problem that doesn’t cause damage, but the amounts of the toxin are so small that it only works locally. Also, almost every drug and medication is toxic; we call this toxicity “side-effects.” This may be an issue with plastics. We know that there are some chemicals in plastics that are potentially toxic, but the question is if there could be enough exposure to these to cause harm. The two primary types of chemicals that are known to be harmful are: Bisphenol-A and Phthalates.[4]

BPA danger

Bisphenol A has been around since 1891. Because of its strength and stability properties, it is used in food and beverage containers, plastic water bottles, baby bottles, toys, eyeglasses, CDs, and so forth. It is also used to line metal products such as canned food products and dental sealants. One place where a significant exposure to BPA can occur is in thermal paper such as tickets and receipts, which uses it to stabilize the thermal ink. This BPA rubs off onto your hands, and studies have shown the skin absorbs it.[5]

BPA is an “endocrine disrupter” because it has an estrogen effect in the body. That means women will have more stimulation of estrogen receptors that can lead to ovarian cysts, cancer, irregular menstrual cycles, as well as obesity and diabetes. The effect in men is to lower sperm counts and decrease libido by lowering testosterone.[6]

Phthalates danger

Phthalates [7] refers to a group of “plasticizers” used in the manufacture of many plastics, especially PVC, or vinyl. Plastics everywhere have phthalates.[8] All over the house, phthalates is in tiles, varnishes, paints, sealants, construction materials, toys, bottles, food packaging, cosmetics, perfumes, creams, candles, shampoos, adhesives, artificial leather, and waterproof clothing. They get into the body through food and breathing microplastics, or through the skin. Infants who suck on plastic things get significant amounts of phthalates. They are endocrine disrupters because they block androgens like testosterone. Thus, they affect development and fertility.

Plastic DETOX

Most of the hype we see about microplastics intends to scare people. It seems like most of the plastics themselves are not toxic in the amounts exposed to humans. They are probably like all the other hydrocarbons or carbohydrates in the world that we cannot digest, like cellulose. The two that may be a problem are BPA and Phthalates because they have biological effects on people at the levels exposed to in their environment. Most exposure to these chemicals comes from the ingestion of contaminated food.

It seems that the best way to decrease your exposure to these potential hazards is to simply not use plastics with foods. If you make your own food at home, and avoid packaged, boxed, or prepared foods, you will be exposed to much less plastic. Don’t take receipts, or you can them in a plastic bag. The exposure from plastic bottles and other containers is very little, unless heated.

Other ways to avoid toxic ingestion of plastics:

Avoid artificial fragrances
Stay away from warm or hot plastics near food
Avoid conventional personal care products like shampoos, soaps, moisturizers, and makeup
Eat real, whole foods – (fresh foods have less packaging and less plastic)
Use basic cleaning products like alcohol, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium bicarbonate
Avoid cheap supplements (some fillers used are plastics)

Besides avoiding exposure to plastic chemicals, you can aid the liver to detoxify them with a few supplements.

Milk Thistle: A study in mice[9] showed that milk thistle extract reduced the toxicity of BPA in the liver. Another study also showed protective effects against phthalates.[10] The silymarin in the milk thistle helps the liver to detoxify the chemicals in the plastics – and other things.

Calcium-d-glucarate: helps things that the liver has detoxified to go out with the stool instead of getting reabsorbed from the intestines.

NAC: N-Acetylcysteine is an amino acid used to make glutathione, which is one of the primary detox pathways in the liver.

ALA: Alpha Lipoic Acid is an antioxidant that works on both fat and water-soluble toxins. It helps the liver to restore glutathione as well.

Your Plastic Detox Program

I don’t know how much you are exposed to these chemicals, but it seems that doing a periodic cleanse would be a good idea. This does not just get rid of the toxins in plastics, but also all the other toxins made in your body, ingested, or breathed in.

Fasting for 3 days with about 16oz of water twice per day (no supplements).
After fasting eat a high-fiber diet (40 grams of fiber per day).
Add Milk Thistle, 500mg twice a day for 2 weeks.
Take ALA 600mg twice a day for two weeks.
NAC 600mg twice a day for two weeks.
Calcium-d-glucarate 500mg twice a day for two weeks.

You can do this program about 4x per year to remain clean. If you have a lot of exposure, you can do it longer, or every month.

If you consider the source of plastics – petroleum – you might think they will be around forever. After all, the petroleum itself has been around for a very long time underground. As we continue to make plastics, the levels will build up as more are added because what is there is not getting broken down in the environment. It is, therefore, logical to consider this to be a real environmental problem.

However, the health problems with microplastics are, at least with our current exposures, more hype than reality. But there are potential issues, and I’m glad there are people who monitor and look out for toxicity before everyone dies. It was postulated in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1983 that Rome fell because of lead toxicity.[11] Maybe we can prevent the fall of modern society by heading off plastic toxicity! 😊