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Every microplastics article in one place
278 research explainers, guides, product picks, and how-tos. Newest first, every claim sourced.
Health
Clear Aligners Shed Microplastics — and the BPA Comes From Somewhere Else
Seven aligner brands shed microplastics into artificial saliva over seven days, most particles 5–20 µm — and Invisalign released the fewest, not the most. The BPA spike measured in patients came 30 minutes after the composite attachments were bonded, not from the tray, and was back to baseline within a week.
August 19, 2026 · 12 min read
Water
The EPA Just Listed Microplastics — and Declined to Measure Them
On 6 April 2026 the EPA put microplastics on its draft Contaminant Candidate List for the first time in the list’s 30-year history. Three months later it left them out of UCMR 6, the rule that would actually require water systems to test for them. Both are true, and almost nobody reported them together.
August 18, 2026 · 12 min read
Food
PFAS in Cooking Oil: When the Plastic Doesn't Come From the Bottle
A third-party test found PTFE — a fluoropolymer, and therefore a PFAS — suspended in an olive oil whose squeeze bottle is not made of PTFE. That mismatch points upstream at processing equipment rather than packaging. Plus the regulatory science on why fat extracts more from plastic than any other food.
August 17, 2026 · 12 min read
Guide
We Scored 132 Products for Microplastics. Only 12 Have Ever Been Measured.
An audit of our own database. Nine percent of our product scores rest on a measurement of that exact item; 53% are reasoned from materials and use conditions. Six categories — 56 products — contain no measured item at all. And the measured products score 22 points worse, which turns out to say more about what science chooses to study than about the products.
August 17, 2026 · 9 min read
Water
Is Owala Non-Toxic? The Body Is Fine — the Answer Is in the Lid
The insulated body is stainless steel and inert, and the BPA-free claim is genuine rather than a BPS substitution. The microplastics question lives entirely in the lid: a Tritan spout and a polypropylene flip mechanism, where cap abrasion measures 131 particles per litre after a single opening.
August 16, 2026 · 11 min read
Guide
Is It Plastic? Every Material in Your Kitchen, Answered
Nineteen of the thirty materials in an ordinary kitchen are plastic, and most people can name about six. Polyester and nylon are plastic. Melamine is plastic. PLA is plastic despite the compostable label. Silicone is not, quite — it is a siloxane. And "bamboo fibre" tableware is usually melamine resin with a plant filler.
August 15, 2026 · 13 min read
Cosmetics
Think Dirty vs Yuka: How the Two Scanners Differ — and the Question Neither One Asks
Yuka scores 0–100 off its single worst ingredient; Think Dirty scores 0–10 and leans natural. Yuka carries ~2M products against Think Dirty’s ~1,200 brands. But neither rates synthetic polymers, because inert plastics are invisible to toxicological hazard criteria by design — so a formula can score well on both and still be built out of plastic.
August 14, 2026 · 11 min read
Guide
Microplastic Testing: What a Lab Can Actually Measure — and Why "None Detected" Isn't Clean
Micro-FTIR stops seeing particles around 10 micrometres and micro-Raman around 0.5. Much of the research linking microplastics to human tissue sits below both limits — so a clean water result is a statement about the instrument, not about your water. What labs measure, what mail-in kits deliver, and the test that does not exist at any price.
August 13, 2026 · 12 min read
Cosmetics
Nail Dust Is Microplastic — and Nail Polish Has a Legal Exemption Until 2035
Acrylic is the most common polymer in nail salon air — 27% of particles, at an estimated 67,567 inhaled a year. And under the EU microplastics restriction, nail products got the longest transition of any category: 17 October 2035, with a "This product contains microplastics" label required from 2031.
August 12, 2026 · 11 min read
Health
Do Contact Lenses Shed Microplastics? The 2026 Study Points at the Blister Pack
A June 2026 study analysed the whole routine — new lenses, worn lenses, blister packs, cases and solutions — and found microparticles in every sample type. Then the polymer fingerprints said most of them did not come from the lens. The part you cannot change turns out not to be the part that matters most.
August 11, 2026 · 10 min read
Home
Can You Microwave Rubbermaid? The 30-Second Rule Nobody Follows
Rubbermaid says reheating only, and defines it as a short peak: "maintaining temperatures at 165°F or higher for more than 30 seconds is considered cooking, and is outside the intended use of these products." The twist is that the premium Brilliance line is capped at 165°F while the budget TakeAlongs handles 212°F.
August 10, 2026 · 9 min read
Pregnancy
Nanoplastics Crossed a Placenta Model and Changed Hormone Output: The 2026 Study, Carefully
Four of five polymers crossed a three-layer human placental model within 72 hours, and steroid hormone output changed — polystyrene mainly cutting estrogen. What van Boxel et al. actually found, the five things a dish of cells cannot tell you, and what it means if you are pregnant.
August 10, 2026 · 11 min read
Cosmetics
Does Neutrogena Have Microplastics? All 140 Published Formulas Checked (2026)
38 of 140 formulas contain a solid polymer — but the concentration is the story. Skincare 25%, makeup 37%, haircare 0%, and 12 of the 18 skincare hits are Hydro Boost alone. The line sold on water and weightlessness is two-thirds of the problem, because the texture IS the polymer.
August 10, 2026 · 12 min read
Home
Can You Microwave a Solo Cup? Solo's Own Answer Is No
No, and Solo says so plainly — its cups are "not intended for microwave usage or hot food/beverages". Red cups are #6 polystyrene, which softens around 170°F, below the temperature of hot coffee. Every product line by material, plus the one Solo line that is actually microwavable.
August 9, 2026 · 8 min read
Home
Can You Microwave Ziploc Bags? Reheat Only—Never Cook
Yes for defrosting and reheating only; no for cooking — only Zip’n Steam is cleared for that. What SC Johnson states, why the bag must be vented, and the particle question approval was never designed to answer.
August 9, 2026 · 9 min read
Cosmetics
Does Cetaphil Have Microplastics? All 79 Published Formulas Checked (2026)
Five of 79, and three are SPF moisturisers — so one category swap covers almost all of it. The Gentle Skin Cleanser and Moisturizing Lotion are clean, and so is the entire baby range once you exclude the water-soluble polymer most ingredient apps wrongly flag.
August 9, 2026 · 10 min read
Cosmetics
Drugstore Skincare Audited: 290 Formulas from CeraVe, Cetaphil and Neutrogena (2026)
We counted solid polymer particles across 290 ingredient lists the brands publish themselves. CeraVe 4 of 71, Cetaphil 5 of 79, Neutrogena 38 of 140 — and the Hydro Boost line alone accounts for 15 of them. The method, the named products, and why the dermatologist aisle really is lower-plastic-contact.
August 8, 2026 · 14 min read
Cosmetics
Does CeraVe Have Microplastics? All 71 Published Formulas Checked (2026)
Four out of 71 — the lowest-contact result we have recorded for any large brand. Solid polymer particles appear in one SPF lotion, the retinol serum, a cleansing balm and a body wash. The three ceramide moisturisers everyone actually buys are clean, and dimethicone is not a microplastic.
August 8, 2026 · 11 min read
Food
Does Muscle Milk Have Microplastics? What Cytosport Won't Tell You
We went looking for a bottle material and an ingredient list and found neither, which makes this the least transparent product we have audited in any category. What the plastic-bottle format implies, why the 11oz is marginally worse than the 14oz, and the better option inside the same brand.
August 7, 2026 · 9 min read
Food
Protein Shakes Ranked by Microplastic and Phthalate Risk (2026)
Only one ready-to-drink shake has ever been publicly tested, and it failed badly. Every major brand ranked on container format, processing route and what the company actually discloses — plus why almost nobody in this aisle will tell you what the bottle is made of.
August 6, 2026 · 13 min read
Food
Does Premier Protein Have Microplastics? What the Carton Actually Tells You
Never tested, and Premier does not state its packaging material — so any number you see is invented. What an aseptic carton is really made of, why it beats the plastic bottle Fairlife was flagged for, and the free switch hiding inside the range.
August 6, 2026 · 10 min read
Food
Does the AeroPress Leach Microplastics? Every Model Checked
The Original chamber is polypropylene and you brew near-boiling water in it, which is the exact combination we warn about. The saving grace is contact time: about a minute, not all day. Every model by material from AeroPress own documentation, plus the two versions with no plastic in the water path at all.
August 5, 2026 · 9 min read
Food
Is a Moccamaster Plastic-Free? Every Part That Touches Your Coffee (2026)
No, and no drip brewer is. But the Moccamaster puts its plastic where it matters least: the reservoir holds cold water and heating happens in a copper element, not a plastic tank. Component by component through the water path, what Technivorm confirms, the polymer it will not disclose, and how it compares with a Keurig.
August 4, 2026 · 9 min read
Food
Fruit and Vegetables Are the Biggest Microplastic Source in Your Diet (2026)
A University of Amsterdam review of 193 studies found fruit, vegetables and grains account for roughly 99.5% of the microplastic particles people swallow, ahead of seafood and bottled water. Why that is about how often you eat them rather than how dirty they are, why it is not a reason to eat less produce, and the buried finding: intake estimates span more than ten orders of magnitude.
August 3, 2026 · 10 min read