Microplastics found in nearly 90% of meat, plant based alternatives: ‘There’s no escaping them’

Not even plant based food is safe from microplastic contamination. New research finds that nearly 90% of proteins — yes, even vegan alternatives — tested by researchers contain microplastics, which have been linked to negative health consequences . 16 types of protein sources — including chicken, beef, seafood, pork, tofu and three plant based alternatives — were analyzed for microplastics in a study published Monday in the journal Environmental Pollution.

The samples were purchased in April 2022 from two supermarkets and one grocer in the Portland, Oregon, area — according to the product packaging, they were produced in the US. The researchers, from Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto, found that 88% of the samples contain plastic particles, implying that humans are likely consuming microplastics no matter their diet.

“This is a startling reminder of just how prolific plastic pollution has become — humans live on land and yet seafood samples are just as likely to be contaminated with plastics as are terrestrial derived proteins,” study co author and marine biologist Dr. Britta Baechler, associate director of plastics science at Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement .

“And there’s no escaping them no matter what you eat, it seems,” Baechler continued. “The plastic pollution crisis is impacting all of us, and we need to take action to address its many forms.” Previous research suggested that humans consume a credit card’s worth of plastic every week on average, and the pesky particles — which are less than 5 millimeters long — have been found in our oceans and clouds .

“As ocean scientists, my co authors and I are deeply concerned about the growing plastics crisis in the world’s ocean,” said study co author Dr. George Leonard, Ocean Conservancy’s chief scientist. “But our study shows that plastics in our food goes well beyond fish and shellfish to a wide variety of other protein sources, as well.” Ocean Conservancy’s report — which found that 44% of the microplastics discovered were fibers and 30% were fragments — adds to the growing research on microplastic presence in our diets, suggesting the need for further studies to determine their origins.

Ocean Conservancy researchers noted that the way the foods are processed could be to blame — they found that more processed proteins contain higher levels of microplastics than their less processed counterparts. However, it is likely not the only culprit, since there was very little difference in microplastic contamination between fresh caught meats and processed foods.

“It’s tempting to want to draw conclusions like ‘eat less of this and more of that’ to avoid microplastics in your diet; but right now we still know very little about the microplastic burdens in commonly consumed foods,” study co author Madeleine Milne said. The researchers, drawing data from another study conducted by Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto, estimate that American adults consume nearly 11,500 microplastics annually.

That number could potentially soar as high as 3.8 million, according to the new calculations. A different study , also published Monday, found that 1 liter of bottled water contains 240,000 nanoplastics — 100 times more than previously believed. Nanoplastics are much smaller than microplastics, allowing them to easily enter the bloodstream and into organs, with the health impacts still being investigated.

“The investigation into the health impacts of nanoplastics is currently at a nascent stage, necessitating further research,” Beizhan Yan, study co author and environmental chemist at Columbia University, told The Post on Tuesday..