How to reduce microplastics at home: what actually helps

Can you detox microplastics?

Not in any proven way: experts say nothing has been shown to speed up how the body clears microplastics. Source 1

“There’s no scientifically proven ‘detox’ method to speed up removal of any microplastics from the body,” Columbia biophysicist Wei Min told TODAY in 2025. Paul Anastas, who directs Yale’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, said there’s no way to flush them out “beyond what the body is doing already.” Source 1

So the useful question is how to take in fewer. That’s what every swap on this page is for.

Are microplastics harmful?

Nobody knows yet whether microplastics are harmful. In 2019, WHO said that, “based on the limited information we have,” microplastics in drinking water “don’t appear to pose a health risk at current levels,” and called for more research. Source 2

Since then, a 2024 study of 257 people who had surgery on a neck artery found plastic in the artery plaque of about 6 in 10. Over about three years, those people were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, or to die, than people whose plaque had none. That’s a link, not proof that the plastic caused it. Source 3

Does boiling water remove microplastics?

In a lab test, mostly, if your water is hard. In a 2024 study, boiling hard tap water (over 120 mg of calcium carbonate per litre) removed at least 80% of the plastic particles added to it. Source 4

As the water heats, the minerals that form limescale trap the particles. In water with 300 mg of calcium carbonate per litre, up to 90% were removed; in soft water (under 60 mg per litre), about 25%. The study’s press release suggests pouring the boiled water through a simple filter, such as a coffee filter, to catch what’s left. Source 5

The researchers added three kinds of plastic to tap water from one city and boiled it for five minutes, so treat it as promising rather than settled. Source 4 Source 5 Boil in glass or steel: in a 2025 study, polypropylene kettles released the most plastic particles in their first boils, and less with each use after. Source 6

• The swap: Plastic kettle → to Glass kettle

Do water filters remove microplastics?

Some do, and the certificate tells you which. Look for a microplastics result under NSF/ANSI 401.

Our pick, the PUR PLUS faucet filter, lists a 99.65% microplastics reduction under NSF/ANSI 401 on its performance data sheet, where the standard asks for at least 85%. The same sheet covers lead and total PFAS. Source 7 If you can install one, the A. O. Smith AO-US-200 under-sink filter, the swap’s other pick, lists a passed microplastics test too: more than 85% reduction of particles from 0.5 to under 1 micrometre. Source 8 Both have plastic housings and cartridges; we haven’t found a certified filter that isn’t.

Bottled water isn’t plastic-free either. A 2024 study estimated about 240,000 plastic particles per litre of bottled water, about 90% of them nanoplastics. Source 9

• The swap: Unfiltered tap water → to Certified water filter
• The swap: Plastic water bottle → to Steel bottle

Where else do microplastics come from at home?

Studies point to plastic that’s heated or scraped, and to dust.

In a 2023 test of plastic food containers, microwaving released more particles than storing food in the fridge or at room temperature. Source 10 Polypropylene baby bottles shed more after sterilising and with hot water. Source 11 One study estimated that chopping on plastic boards could expose a person to tens of millions of particles a year. Source 12 In one lab test, plastic mesh tea bags released billions of particles at 95 °C. Other scientists questioned that count, and Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment calls it “clearly too high.” Source 13 Source 14 Source 15

Dust may matter too. A 2018 study found that fibres settling from household dust onto a plate at mealtimes far outnumbered the microplastics a person would eat in a year of mussels. Source 16

• The swap: Plastic food containers → to Glass containers
• The swap: Plastic baby bottles → to Glass baby bottles
• The swap: Plastic cutting board → to Wood board
• The swap: Silky pyramid (mesh) tea bags → to Steel tea infuser
• Fact check: Microwaving plastic
• Fact check: Plastic baby bottles
• Fact check: Plastic cutting boards
• Fact check: Tea bags and plastic