- A recent study out of the University of Padua in Italy found microplastics in nearly all dairy products tested — including milk, fresh cheese, and ripened cheese.
- The researchers found an average of 1,857 particles per kilogram in ripened cheese, 1,280 in fresh cheese, and about 350 in milk, likely from processing and packaging.
- While the study didn’t evaluate health effects, previous research links microplastics to heart and liver issues, raising concerns about plastic contamination in the food supply.
Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and even in vegetables freshly plucked from the ground. And now, a recent peer-reviewed study published in the journal NPJ Science of Food says they’re swirling around in our milk, too.
Researchers from Italy’s University of Padua shared their findings after analyzing microplastics in dairy products, including milk, fresh cheese, and ripened cheese. The team examined 28 retail samples, including cartons of milk, 10 fresh cheeses aged less than one month, and 14 ripened cheeses aged more than four months. The researchers minimized cross-contamination risk by conducting their tests in a “Class 7 cleanroom” and using cleaned glassware, ensuring that any microplastics detected were present from the start.
The team then separated the dairy from any potential microplastic particles and used a powerful infrared microscope to identify each piece, scanning them repeatedly to confirm the results. Unsurprisingly, they found microplastic particles in 26 out of 28 products tested, most often identifying polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET, a plastic commonly used in food packaging and plastic bottles, along with polyethylene, the most widely used plastic, and polypropylene, a thermoplastic polymer also frequently used in food packaging.
The team found significantly more microplastics in cheese than in milk. Ripened cheese had the highest levels, about 1,857 particles per kilogram, followed by fresh cheese at 1,280 particles per kilogram, and milk with around 350 particles per kilogram. The researchers noted that the difference between cheese and milk was substantial enough to be considered meaningful. Their findings suggest the additional microplastics are likely introduced during processing, due to the additional steps involved in pressing, aging, and packaging cheese, including everything from feed bags to retail wrappers.
As the authors noted, this study merely documented the presence of microplastics; it did not analyze or seek to understand the health effects on people consuming them. However, a growing body of research is pointing to the potential harm of microplastics to human health.
Food & Wine has reported on numerous microplastic studies, including one that showed microplastics can build up in the arterial plaque of patients with cardiovascular disease. The researchers in that study noted that these micro- and nanoplastics can trigger “toxicologic effects” when they enter the human body through “ingestion, inhalation, and skin exposure.” They added that the microscopic particles pose a risk factor for various conditions, including “altered heart rate, cardiac-function impairment, myocardial fibrosis, and endothelial dysfunction,” along with general oxidative stress and inflammation.
Additional research has found microplastics in nearly every part of the human body, including the lungs, blood, and liver, which one study noted could be contributing to liver damage. While there is little one can do at this point about microplastics in our environment, there are a few ways to limit your exposure, including taking these steps in your kitchen to reduce your chances of encountering additional microplastics at home.
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