The truth behind microplastics claims and scientific standards needed

There are no globally standardized methods for the collection, detection, and quantification of microplastics—or, more accurately defined, microparticles—yet recent headlines would suggest otherwise. That’s not just confusing and frightening, it’s dangerous. As John Galt of Husky Technologies states in his recent piece:

• You likely saw the headlines about a “spoon’s worth of plastic in your brain,” yet experts flagged a critical flaw: the study relied on equipment that led to potential false positives.
• The FDA has made clear that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.”
• PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic, universally recognized by the ‘1’ resin identification code, is among the safest and most rigorously tested plastics, approved globally by regulators including the FDA and EFSA—yet, due to these misleading headlines, it faces unwarranted backlash.

We agree with Galt: the public deserves facts, not unscientific clickbait. Read John Galt’s full opinion piece here and click here for an overview of microplastics.