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MPR News with Angela Davis

Euan Kerr and Maja Beckstrom

January 29, 2025 9:00 AM

Updated: January 29, 2025 11:30 AM

Can microplastics harm us?

A person holds trash in their hands — Volunteer Carol Dungan holds up a handful of waste recovered from the Lake Hiawatha’s southern shoreline on July 23, 2022. Much of the trash breaks down over time, polluting the lake and connected waterways with millions of pieces of microplastics, which have a devastating impact on plants of wildlife.
Tim Evans for MPR News

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Plastic is in everything from synthetic clothing to take-out food containers, car tires and hospital IV bags.

Now we know it’s also in our bodies.

As plastic is manufactured, used and thrown away it sheds tiny bits and fibers that make their way into the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

Microplastics have been found in human breast milk, placenta, testicles, hearts and more.

Turn Up Your Support

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.

MPR News guest host Euan Kerr talks with a doctor and a researcher about where plastic is showing up, how it might be getting there and how researchers are trying to tease out links between microplastics and human health.

Guests:

Dr. Zeke McKinney is an occupational and environmental physician and researcher with HealthPartners. He’s also an affiliate associate professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences.
Mary Kosuth is an assistant researcher and PhD candidate in Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on microplastics.

three people smiling in a broadcast studio — MPR News guest host Euan Kerr (right) talks with Mary Kosuth (center) and Dr. Zeke McKinney in an MPR News studio on Wednesday.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    