Microplastic Statistics

Analysis of the latest available data and statistics on microplastics including the rise in human consumption and environmental pollution.

Medically Reviewed by

Olushola M.

Awoyemi

PHD Toxicology

Last Updated:

April 18, 2024

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Table of contents

Report Highlights:

A 2024 study using a form of measurement capable of detecting extremely small plastic particles, found between 110,000 and 370,000 plastic particles per liter of bottled water — 90% of these plastics particles were nanoplastics.
340,000 microplastics per cubic foot of ice were found in the Arctic Sea.
Microplastics have been found at the top of Mount Everest and at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Microplastics have been found in human placentaand human feces.
Microplastics indoors can be 60x higher than microplastics outdoors.
The average person globally breathes in 2,000 to 7,000 microplastics per day.
Core samples extracted off the coast of California show that microplastics have doubled every 15 years (from 1945 to 2009).
The average person will consume an estimate of between 13,731 and 68,415 microplastic particles that fall on food during a meal.

Production: More Plastic = More Microplastic

The more plastic that is created each year, the more microplastics will exist. Microplastics can either be created (less than 5mm) or can be the result of larger plastics breaking down through exposure to friction, UV, or other by other means.

Microplastic, the term, wasn’t coined until 2004.
A “microplastic” is a plastic particle that is less than 5 millimeters.
In a 65 year period (1950 to 2015), plastic production increased from 2 to 381 million metric tons — a 18,950% increase.

Estimates show plastic production could reach 1230 million metric tons annually, more than double current production levels.

China is currently, and is predicted to be, the largest producer of plastic in the world by volume.
India is predicted to have the largest increase in plastic production by volume — up 131 Mt from 2019 to 2060.
The US is predicted to be the 3rd largest producer of plastic in 2060, behind India and China.
The growth rate of plastic production is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. Other Africa) region — a 549% or 6.5x increase. According to the research, this is predicted to be due to both income and population growth in the region.

A study conducted up to 2015 estimated 6300 Mt of plastic waste have been created. 9% of the 6300 Mt have been recycled, 12% has been incinerated, and the remaining 79% is either in 1) landfills or 2) the environment.
At least 8 Mt of plastic ends up into the ocean annually, which is similar to a garbage truck dumping its contents into the ocean every single minute.
Research estimated that worldwide, 1 to 5 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually.
The average American generates more than double the plastic waste than a person living in the European Union.

Where Microplastic Come From

Anything made of plastic can hypothetically turn into microplastics. However, certain sources create orders of magnitude more microplastics than others.

When plastics break apart to form microplastics, it’s called fragmentation. Plastic fragmentation was 22% of total microplastics released in marine environments.
Estimates vary widely, but some put microplastics from paint particles as high as 35% in the marine environment.
Tires are a major contributor of microplastics. Estimates show microplastics from tires per capita are nearly 2 pounds globally.
Artificial turf fields also contribute to microplastics. One study estimates that in Europe, 160 million pounds of rubber crumb is released from just over 50,000 artificial turf fields.
Microfibers from synthetic clothing are a massive contributor to microplastics. One in 2020 estimates that 5.6 Mt of microfibers from synthetic clothing were emitted from just washing the clothing. Half of the 5.6 Mt were released in the 10 years prior to this study being published. The study also reported a 12.9% compound annual growth rate.
Another study found that for a washing machine wash load of 6kg, over 700,000 microfibers could be released from clothing, sweaters in this case.
Fishing vessels contribute to marine environment microplastics through fishing gear, traps, rope, paint, and more. One study showed that rope sheds 230 microplastic particles per foot. The researchers estimated that each year in the UK, ropes aboard fishing vessels could be releasing 17 billion microplastics into the ocean.
Gray water is wastewater from things like showering that does not contain fecal matter. One study estimates that cruise ships could be releasing 250 million pounds of microplastics annually via gray water.

Microplastics in the Home

Our homes are full of plastic, so naturally, they’re also full of microplastics.

One study found outdoor microfiber counts are significantly lower than indoor counts. The same study found between 1586 and 11,130 fibers per day per m². Another study done in China found similar levels.
Another study collected more than 6x the microfibers from indoor environments versus outdoor.
Another study states,”our data indicates release of microfibers per person per year to the air is of a similar order of magnitude to that released to wastewater by laundering”
In 2020, researchers analyzed microplastics fallout in a dormitory, an office, and a corridor for 3 months, 7 days a week. some text
- The office had the most microplastics — 9,900 per square meter per day.
- The office had the second most microplastics — 1,800 per square meter per day. During weekdays, microplastics were double that of weekends (2,400 vs. 1,200 per square meter per day) — likely due to people moving around more frequently in the environment.
- The corridor had the least microplastics — 1,500 per square meter per day.
One study found that more frequent vacuum cleaner use resulted in fewer microplastics in the home.
Microplastics indoors can be 60x higher than microplastics outdoors.
Each day, it’s estimated we breathe in 2,000 to 7,000 microplastics per day.

Microplastics in Food and Water

One study estimates that a European consumer consumes upwards of 11,000 microplastics annual from shellfish.
A survey conducted in Ecuador found that:
- In craft honey, there were an average of 67 microplastics per liter.
- In industrial honey, there were an average of 54 microplastics per liter.
- In industrial beer, there were an average of 47 microplastics per liter.
- In skim milk, there were an average of 40 microplastics per liter.
- In soft drinks, there were an average of 32 microplastics per liter.
One 2018 study looked at microplastics in 159 samples of globally sourced tap water, 12 brands of Laurentian Great Lakes beer, and 12 brands of commercial sea salt. They found that based on consumer guidelines for these 3 categories, the average person will ingest 5,800 microplastics from tap water, beer, and salt annually.
Another study tested 15 brands of sea salt, lake salt, and rock/well salt from China supermarkets and found:
- 550 to 681 microplastics per kilogram of sea salt
- 43 to 364 microplastics per kilogram of lake salt
- 7 to 204 particles per kilogram of rock/well salt
In 2020, a study was published on analyzing microplastics in drinking water in Asia, Europe, and North America. The most microplastics per liter of tap water found was 628 microplastics per liter. If a human were consuming this source of tap water, they’d consume 458,000 microplastics annually from just tap water.
A 2024 study using a form of measurement capable of detecting extremely small plastic particles, found between 110,000 and 370,000 plastic particles per liter of bottled water — 90% of these plastics particles were nanoplastics.
One study looked at microplastics in tap water in seven countries (Uganda, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, United States, Cuba, Ecuador) and found that the United States had the highest concentration of microplastics in tap water.
A 2020 study found that polypropylene bottles used to feed infants formula shed between 1.3 million and 16.2 million particles per liter.
Disposable paper cups used for liquids like coffee leached tens of thousands of microplastics and millions of nanoplastics into hot liquid held in these cups in only 15 minutes.
Many tea bags are composed of plastic and release plastic particles.
One study estimates that a human will consume between 13,731 and 68,415 microplastic particles that fall on food during a meal.

Microplastics and Human Health

A study published in the New England Journal of medicine found a significant association between the presence of microplastic and nanoplastic particles within atheroma (plaque within the artery well) and an increased risk of primary endpoints (health issues like heart attack or stroke). Patients with microplastics and nanoplastics in their atheroma were 4.5x more likely to experience a health event related to atherosclerosis (a condition where arteries become narrowed and hardened due to buildup of plaque around the artery wall).
An experiment done in vitro found that nanoplastics can indeed provoke human immune cells to release cytokines, which implies they provoke inflammation.
Microplastics are found in most human feces.
Microplastics have been found in human placenta.
Many plastic additives have been associated with human health risks.
Microplastics can carry bacteria and pathogens on their surfaces. When animals or humans ingest these microplastics, there is a risk that these organisms can cause diseases.
Animals that ingest microplastics can experience harmful health effects, such as eating less, stunted growth, changes in behavior, lower reproductive success, less energy available for growth, changes in gene activity, and harm to cells and DNA.

Microplastics and Agriculture

One study estimates that annual:
- Between 63,000 tonnes (138 million pounds) and 430,000 tonnes (947 million pounds) of microplastics could be added to farmlands in Europe.
- Between 44,000 tonnes (97 million pounds) and 300,000 tonnes (661 million pounds) of microplastics could be added to farmlands in North America.
One study in China found that in one pound of soil, 18,000 microplastics could be found.

Microplastics in the Ocean

Microfibers are present worldwide in marine sediments and seawater.
A group of researchers found that 34.8% of microplastics in global oceans were synthetic fibers (clothes, robe, etc.) and 28.3% of microplastics came from tire wear.
A survey of the Atlantic ocean found that in just the first 650 feet of the ocean, 46 billion pounds of microplastics are suspended.
A survey of the North Pacific showed 8,300 microplastics per liter of sea water
An analysis of more than 8,000 samples gathered from oceans around the globe by different scientific groups from 2000 to 2019 concluded that there are approximately 24 trillion pieces of microplastics floating at the ocean's surface.
In the Maldivian archipelago, harmful plastic additives were detected in 95% of the coral polyp samples examined.
A study conducted on six beaches in Oahu revealed that there were as many as 160 microplastic particles per square foot of sand.
A detailed study in 2021 analyzed data from over 170,000 fish, discovering that microplastics were present in two-thirds of the species examined.
Blue whales, the largest animals in the marine ecosystem, ingest as many as 10 million microplastic particles each day.

Feedback

We’ve done our best in this article to pull statistics on microplastics and present them in a clear, unbiased way.

That said, we’re not perfect and the science surrounding microplastics is constantly changing.

If you find any errors, have any recommendations to improve clarity of language, or any other forms of feedback, we’d greatly appreciate it. You can reach out via email: hello (at) welpr.com.

Sources

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About The Author

Camille May

Hey, I’m Camille, co-creator of Welpr and your clean living guide. After selling my last company in the health food space, I went non-toxic to heal an autoimmune condition. It did wonders for my health, but navigating which products to buy wasn’t easy. We created Welpr to make that journey feel a little bit easier. When I’m not working on Welpr, you can find me at the farmers market or unwinding in the sauna, always in bed at 9pm with a good book. I live in my hometown of Austin, TX with my pit bull, Romeo.