How Much Microplastic Are You Actually Eating?

Answer four questions and see your estimated yearly microplastic intake — built on the peer-reviewed Cox et al. (2019) study and other published research. Then see the one change that cuts it most.

The single biggest dietary source in the research. Cox et al. found bottled-water drinkers swallow ~90,000 extra particles a year; tap/filtered drinkers add only ~4,000.
Tap / filtered
A mix of both
Mostly bottled
A single plastic (nylon/PET) tea bag can shed billions of particles into one cup (McGill, 2019). Counted conservatively here.
Never / loose leaf
Sometimes
Daily
Fish, shellfish and mussels carry microplastics in their tissue — roughly 140 particles per serving in tested samples.
Rarely
1–2
3–5
6+
Plastic containers and wrap shed particles into food, especially when hot. A conservative per-meal estimate.
Rarely
A few times a week
Most days

The room-by-room plastic-free swap guide — free

50+ research-backed swaps that cut the sources above. No spam.

What this number actually means

In 2019, researchers Kieran Cox and colleagues published the first study adding up human microplastic intake across common foods and drinks. They estimated the average American swallows 39,000–52,000 microplastic particles a year from food alone — and that the choice between bottled and tap water is the single largest dietary lever. People who drink only bottled water take in roughly 90,000 additional particles a year; those who drink tap or filtered water add only about 4,000. That one difference dwarfs almost everything else on your plate.

This calculator starts from that peer-reviewed baseline and layers on conservative estimates for the other well-documented sources — plastic tea bags, seafood, and food stored or served in plastic. It is an estimate, not a lab measurement of your body: the science is young and the ranges are wide. But the ranking it produces is robust, and it points at the changes that matter most.

The good news hiding in the data: the biggest sources are also the most fixable. Filtering your water removes the largest single contributor for most people, and swapping plastic tea bags and plastic food storage takes out the next tier — which is exactly why those show up as your top fixes above.

The three changes that cut the most

1. Filter your drinking water. For anyone drinking bottled water, this is the single highest-impact change — a good filter takes the largest source close to zero. See our tested picks in the best water filters for microplastics and, for whole-home, countertop and reverse-osmosis systems.

2. Ditch plastic tea bags. Loose leaf or a genuinely plastic-free bag avoids billions of particles per cup — see plastic-free tea bags that actually skip the plastic.

3. Get food out of hot plastic. Glass and stainless for storage and reheating cuts the packaging source. Start with glass food storage.

Sources (peer-reviewed):
  • Cox, K.D. et al. (2019). Human Consumption of Microplastics. Environmental Science & Technology — the 39,000–52,000/year food baseline and the bottled-vs-tap difference.
  • Qian, N. et al. (2024). Rapid single-particle imaging of nanoplastics in bottled water. PNAS — ~240,000 nano/micro particles per litre of bottled water.
  • Hernandez, L.M. et al. (2019). Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles. Environmental Science & Technology (McGill University).
  • Van Cauwenberghe & Janssen (2014). Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human consumption. Environmental Pollution — microplastics in seafood tissue.

Estimates only, for education — not medical advice. Ranges reflect the published studies above applied to typical consumption; your real intake varies.