Map reveals:

This is how much microplastic we consume every day

Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines lead the world in per capita dietary intake of microplastics, while China, Mongolia and the UK top the list of countries that inhale the most microplastics.

(Bild: SIV Stock Studio - stock.adobe.com)

It's in our food, our drinking water and in the air - in short, it's everywhere: microplastics. But how much of it do we inhale every day and how much do we ingest through our food? For the first time, a map now provides information on the intake of microplastics by humans in 109 countries, including Austria.

"Microplastics can even be detected in the carotid artery " - Salzburg cardiologist Friedrich Hoppichler and health psychologist Julia Schätzer recently made people sit up and take notice with this news. In a study, they proved that not only microplastics, i.e. plastic particles with a diameter of less than five millimetres, but also nanoplastics between one and 1000 nanometres (millionths of a millimetre) in size can be found in the carotid arteries of atherosclerosis patients. This could lead to an increase in acute cardiovascular diseases, the researchers concluded.

"We ingest microplastics every day: through inhalation, skin contact, via the mucous membranes of the eye surfaces or through the consumption of contaminated food," the researchers wrote. But how much actually? A world map of microplastic consumption now provides information for the first time on the intake of microplastics by humans in 109 countries.