What are microplastics doing to our health?

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 938 Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The actor Orlando Bloom recently posted a photo of himself undergoing a £10,000 procedure at a London clinic that claims to remove microplastics, forever chemicals and herbicides from the blood. But how settled is the science around the health risks of microplastics? To find out, Ian Sample speaks to Dr Stephanie Wright, associate professor of environmental toxicology at Imperial College London’s school of public health. She explains what we know so far about the effects of microplastics in the body, why the science is still evolving, and what we can do to reduce our exposure. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:10.7	Does your dream holiday include hiking, lounging, whitewater rafting?
0:16.4	Then explore northern Spain with Brittany ferries.
0:19.7	Catch a cable car up the Picos de Europa, wonder the
0:23.1	golden sands of La Concha Beach, or get your heart racing on the Rio Gajegos Rapids. Learn how you can save
0:30.3	up to 30% on your sailing with a Brittany Ferries holiday and visit the Guardian.com forward slash
0:36.8	uncommon holidays.
0:38.5	This message was paid for by Brittany Ferries.
0:43.4	Be enchanted by Southeast Asia and fall in love all over again with Hilton as your base.
0:50.1	Reignite the spark in Vietnam where fireworks light up the sea.
0:54.7	Help plant coral in the Maldives and create unforgettable memories.
0:59.4	Let food bring you together at world-class restaurants in the heart of Singapore.
1:04.4	Allow Hilton to introduce you to Luxe 5-star romance.
1:08.4	Discover more at the Guardian.com forward slash travel Southeast Asia.
1:12.2	This message was paid for by Hilton.
1:18.4	They wrap our food, coat our furniture, and are woven through our clothes.
1:26.5	So it shouldn't be a surprise that plastics are in us, too.
1:30.3	They've been found in the brain, bloodstream, vital organs, even breast milk.
1:35.3	A study published last week found that microplastics may even have made it into our reproductive fluids.
1:41.3	The new study was small, but it found microplastics in 69% of follicular fluid samples.
1:48.6	That's the liquid that surrounds eggs in the ovaries.
1:51.1	The study also found microplastics in 55% of semen samples.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Guardian, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Guardian and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.