Move over juice and parasite cleanses – Hollywood is becoming obsessed with another type of wellness detox: getting rid of microplastics. In 2025, Orlando Bloom tried to “clean” his blood and flush out microplastics when he opted for a procedure that removes blood, filters it to extract certain parts, then returns it to the body. Jason Momoa has been super vocal about nixing single-use plastics and preaches about how it breaks down into microplastics in our food and water. David Suzuki, who has been talking about plastics for what seems like eons, views plastic and microplastic pollution as one of the most severe threats to the planet and human health, second only to climate change. “Plastic is polluting our brains and bodies… Plastic pollution is choking the planet,” his eponymous foundation blasts. 

And in a seminar I attended in October, convened to release the findings of a report called “Microplastics in Me: Finding Plastics in Human Blood,” Fran Drescher (a.k.a. The Nanny, as well as former SAG-AFTRA president, and founder of the health advocacy group Cancer Schmancer) says she’s made a concerted effort to eliminate these bitty particles from her life since participating in the study. 

Drescher was one of 28 notable people from the U.S. and Canada – including Margaret Atwood, former politician Rona Ambrose, singer Jackson Browne and actor Kyra Sedgwick – who volunteered to have their blood tested for microplastics. “The negative impact of plastic on our lives is profound. We live in a Plasticine Age and this addiction to plastic is threatening the health of all life. This negative invention is in our bodies, too. It’s in our blood,” Drescher said, adding Nylon 6 – commonly used in clothing and carpets – was found in her blood. “If I have microplastics in my blood, you can bet you do, too.” 

Artist Dianna Cohen, who’s the co-founder and chief vision officer of the Plastic Pollution Coalition (one of the project partners) and participated in the study, says polyethylene – found in plastic bags and containers – was found in her blood. “It made me sick to my stomach when I read my results,” she says. “If you eat out or live in a city, you’re inhaling and ingesting this stuff.”

The report confirmed microplastics contamination in 96 percent of the people tested – there were detectable levels in 27 of the 28 people sampled, including Drescher and Cohen. They also found eight types of plastics and polymers, including those found in beverage bottles, food packaging, flooring, plastic bags, textiles, automotive components, polyester fibres in clothing, medical tubing, shoes, tires, electronics housings, toys and appliance parts. More than 90 percent of particles detected in the volunteers’ blood samples were less than 500 nanometres in diameter, which, for those of us who aren’t scientists, translates to very small plastic particles that can enter the body and bloodstream with ease. 

Dr. Samantha Green, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (a partner of this project), says the researchers’ findings “underlines the urgent need for more focus on plastic pollution as a threat to human health,” since microplastics have shown a link to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, reproductive issues and neurodegenerative disorders. “According to one landmark study, people with higher plastics in their blood had a higher risk of heart disease. These signals are telling us we need to take action. It’s disturbing and troubling.” 

What They Are

A structurally defined category of pollutants, scientists say that any plastic particle smaller than 5 millimetres and larger than 1 micron are microplastics. Dr. Peter Ross, senior scientist and the director of Healthy Waters at Raincoast Conservation Foundation in Sidney, B.C., says most agree that microplastics refer to petroleum-based products, but there are some plant-based materials that have plastic properties. He says there are two types – the first are primary microplastics, which are designed to be small nurdles (commercial resin pellets that are poured into manufacturing machines, heated, melted into liquid and molded to become bottles, toys, bags and other things) and microbeads (now banned in Canada – they were used in facial scrubs and toothpaste, for example). 

The other type is dubbed secondary microplastics, which are particles that have broken down from larger items like textiles and bags. “Basically, any plastic item used today represents a future reservoir of microplastics and human health, since we find microplastic particles in food, water, the air and elsewhere, and we ingest them on a daily basis,” he says. 

Dr. Ryan Prosser, an associate professor in environmental toxicology at the University of Guelph, agrees that we’re all exposed. “Studies have reported microplastics in our tissues – our lungs, digestive systems, blood. They have also reported that microplastics could cause damage to cells, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, adversely affect gut health or disrupt the endocrine system (hormone signalling),” he says. “However, it’s not clear whether microplastics will cause these adverse effects at realistic levels of exposure to the average person. (The same is true for nanoplastics, which are like microplastics but a lot smaller.) 

Where They Come From

The short answer? They’re everywhere. “Carpets, furniture, drapes, clothing, packaging, toys, cars. Studies find high levels of microplastics in indoor air and dust and in the environment,” Ross says. A big source is textiles – our clothing constantly sheds microparticles that not only do we end up inhaling, but they also end up in our waterways after wash cycles. “We are also exposed through food due to the use of plastic utensils, plastic kitchenware, plastic containers and other plastic packaging,” Prosser adds. 

What We Can Do

It might seem futile, but there are ways we can start cutting microplastics from our lives. Prosser says two of the simplest ways are to wear clothing and use linens made from natural fibres – cotton, linen, wool, for example – as opposed to synthetic fibres like polyester. Washing clothes in cold water, using liquid detergent and washing less frequently can reduce household emissions of microplastics into wastewater by up to 50 percent. “People can also reduce their exposure when it comes to foods, which would reduce the potential for ingestion of microplastics,” he says, adding getting rid of plastic food packaging, plastic utensils and plastic containers can make a difference. The federal government is helping here: It already put the Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations program in place, which bans six main categories of single-use plastic items: checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from certain plastics (like PVC), ring carriers, stir sticks and straws. 

The first two things Green did at home was to remove the plastic cutting boards from her kitchen and she stopped buying plastic water bottles. She also never uses plastic containers to warm up food. “But the onus can’t just be on the individual,” she says. “There has to be policy solutions that tackle this issue.” 

Drescher says she’s already made a bunch of changes at home: “I don’t buy beverages in plastic bottles and seek out glass instead. I use dishwasher and laundry detergent in cartons or paper bags, or laundry sheets in paper boxes – I don’t use any big plastic detergent bottles. Everything I use must be eco-friendly – if it’s not, I steer clear. Wake up and smell the coffee,” she says with that distinctive nasal twang. “It all begins with us.” 

You can read the “Microplastics in Me: Finding Plastics in Human Blood” report here: plasticpollutioncoalition.org/microplastics-in-me