The Plastic
What microplastics are. Where they come from. How they enter the body. From the synthetic textiles we wash to the tires grinding down on every road — the source is everywhere, and so is the contamination.
"Micro- and nanoplastics are getting into our bodies." — Dr. Matthew J. Campen, toxicologist, University of New Mexico
The Affected
Every data point is a body. A 2024 NEJM study found microplastics in the arterial plaque of over 300 patients — those with the highest concentrations faced four times the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.
Inflammation. Oxidative stress. Endocrine disruption. Neurological damage. The documented biological chain of what plastic contamination does once it is inside a human body.
The Plan
High school students are winning science fairs with filters that remove 95% of microplastics without membranes. Researchers found okra and fenugreek extract removes up to 90% from water bodies — at almost no cost.
The tools exist. Young people are already building them. What's missing is the political will to scale them.