lessplasticplease

less plastic, please.

Plastic has turned up in human blood, arteries and brains. We report what the research shows,name the companies making the mess, and vet the glass, steel, wood and clay that can replace it, against a standard we publish in full.

58 articles1,077 sourcesEach one linked to where it came from.

An empty green plastic bottle lying on wet sand at the water's edge, with strands of seaweed in the shallow water behind it.
What we throw away. A plastic bottle washed up on a beach in Pas-de-Calais, France. Photo: Falken, CC BY-SA 2.5
Glass jars of oats, granola, pasta and dried goods with screw-top lids on a wooden shelf, two with small handwritten paper labels.
What lasts. Dry goods stored in glass jars on a wooden pantry shelf. Photo: Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0

It's already inside us.

Three peer-reviewed findings from the last four years. Read the caveats too: finding plastic in a body is not the same as proving it causes harm.

  1. Plastic particles were measured in the blood of healthy volunteers, at a mean of 1.6 µg per milliliter: the first time plastic in human blood was quantified.

    Leslie et al., Environment International, 2022

  2. Among 257 patients followed for about 34 months, those with micro- and nanoplastics in their artery plaque had 4.5 times the risk of heart attack, stroke or death. The study shows an association, not proof of cause.

    Marfella et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2024

  3. Microplastic levels in human brain and liver samples rose significantly between 2016 and 2024, and were higher still in brains of people diagnosed with dementia.

    Nihart et al., Nature Medicine, 2025

What it means for your health, and what it doesn't

Latest reporting

Kitchen & food storage,

Cheese in plastic: cling film, vacuum packs, cheese paper and plastic rinds

What the deli counter wraps your cheese in, how much plasticiser ends up in it, whether the plastic is earning its keep, and how to buy and store cheese with less of it.

  • In a Canadian survey published in 2014, all 30 cheeses wrapped in plasticised cling film held the plasticiser DEHA, averaging 203 mg/kg, against an EU limit of 18 mg/kg. Cheese in rigid plastic tubs had none.
  • The plasticiser stays near the surface. In a Greek lab study, DEHA from PVC film reached only the outer 2.4 to 3.6 mm of the cheese after 10 days in the fridge.
  • Packaging is a sliver of cheese's climate footprint: about 0.7% in a global dataset, against about 11% for cheese that gets lost or wasted. Plastic that stops cheese spoiling isn't the villain.

12-minute read, 24 sources

  1. How long does plastic take to break down? Where the "450 years" comes from

    The famous figures on beach posters weren't measured by anyone. What the degradation studies actually show, why sunlight matters more than time, and why "breaking down" mostly means breaking up.

    Cites 12 sources

  2. Can you get microplastics out of your body? The detox claims, checked

    Blood-filtering clinics, chitosan capsules, saunas and 'binders' all promise to pull plastic out of you. What the studies behind them show, what nobody knows yet, and what actually lowers your intake.

    Filed under Personal care & bathroom, citing 17 sources

  3. New-car smell: what you're breathing inside a car, and what helps

    That new-car smell is chemistry, and heat turns it up. What studies have measured in cabin air and seat foam, why flame retardants are in your car, and what ventilation and shade actually do.

    Cites 16 sources

  4. Paper, plastic or cotton bags: what the life-cycle studies actually say

    Why a cotton tote needs '131' or '7,100' uses depending on who's counting, what those studies leave out, and what bag bans and charges really did to litter, paper and bin-bag sales.

    Cites 13 sources

  5. Paper straws, PFAS and straw bans: what the evidence says

    Paper and bamboo straws often carry traces of forever chemicals, some disabled people genuinely need bendy plastic ones, and straws were never the big fish. What's in each kind, and what to do.

    Filed under On the go, citing 14 sources

All 58 articles

Check it yourself

Start with one room

You don't have to change everything at once. Pick the room where you use the most plastic, and start there.

Room photos: Kitchen & food storage, Photo: Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0; Drinking water, Photo: Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0; Personal care & bathroom, Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, CC BY 2.0; Cleaning & laundry, Photo: Gill King, CC BY-SA 2.0; Clothing & textiles, Photo: Sadarama, CC BY-SA 4.0; Baby & kids, Photo: Lucas Pescador Barcelos, CC BY-SA 4.0; Home & bedroom, Photo: Liz Lawley, CC BY-SA 2.0; On the go, Photo: Unknown (via PxHere), CC0.