Plastic in focus: Multiple studies confirm health harm from food packaging

Research from Earth Action has quantified the amount of microplastics coming from packaging into food and drinks to 1,000 metric tons annually. The microplastics are released from the food packaging into the digestive system, and since the particles are of such a small size, they penetrate cell barriers and can affect biological systems. 

Meanwhile, another new study has linked microplastics to liver disease. The amount of plastic in human liver tissue has increased in the past 10 years, raising questions of how plastics from food impact human health.

The report from Earth Action notes that plastics contain complex chemical mixtures, including carcinogenic and endocrine-disruptant substances. 

The organization says that even though packaging is not the largest microplastic polluter, it is in direct contact with food and beverages, which creates a more concentrated pathway for human digestion of microplastics.

It found that every 100–200 mg of microplastics carries approximately 50 mg of associated chemical exposure. “Yet current food-contact regulations largely account for neither particle release nor this combined exposure profile, despite all three originating from the same materials,” states Earth Action.

“For years, the debate around microplastics focused on pollution in the environment. Now we know of the direct pathway to human exposure through the food we eat every day,” says Julien Boucher, PhD, head of research and co-CEO of Earth Action.

“This report identifies the scale of the problem but also points to the solutions. If policymakers and industry start treating particle release as a real safety consideration, alongside chemical migration, we have clear opportunities to reduce exposure.”

Plastics causing disease

The other study, published in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, has linked plastic particles to significant increases in liver disease, finding clear evidence that exposure to micro- and nanoplastics could trigger oxidative stress, fibrogenesis, and inflammation. The review study’s findings apply to animals, but have features similar to advanced liver disease in humans.

The scientists say the liver acts as the body’s first major firewall, as it detoxes and processes everything we consume.The scientists say the liver acts as the body’s first major firewall, as it detoxes and processes everything we consume. This creates a significant potential for the plastic particles to enable the transportation of microbial pathogens, antimicrobial resistance determinants, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and carcinogenic additives into the human system.

“Liver disease is rising globally and is now responsible for one in 25 deaths worldwide. While established risk factors such as obesity and harmful alcohol use remain central, they do not fully explain the scale or pace of this increase,” says Shilpa Chokshi, professor of Experimental Hepatology and director of the Centre of Environmental Hepatology, UK.

“This has led us to consider additional environmental factors, including micro- and nanoplastics, which may interact with existing disease processes and amplify liver injury. There is already strong evidence that plastics can accumulate and cause harm in the livers of animals, raising an important question — why should humans be any different?”

Disrupting nutrition

Earlier this month, a US Department of Health and Human Services agency launched a nationwide US$144 million microplastics research program. It aims to create a toolbox for measuring, researching, and affordably removing microplastics and nanoplastics from the human body.

Prior studies also found that microplastics can change the human gut microbiome, causing patterns linked to depression and colorectal cancer.

A reviewer of the Earth Action report, Dr. Jane Muncke, managing director and chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging Forum, comments: “For a long time, food packaging has been viewed as essentially inert within regulatory safety frameworks.”

“But decades of research show that plastics can release both chemicals and particles into food during normal use. Micro- and nanoplastics add another dimension to this issue and underline the need to better assess the stability and safety of materials used in food packaging.”