How to Reduce Everyday Plastic Exposure

Chris Williamson: You've touched on them a few times, but give me a rundown of the most common sources of high microplastic exposure.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Drinking bottled water is one of the most common sources. Many people drink from plastic bottles, making them a major source. Unfiltered tap water also has microplastics.

Unfortunately, our oceans are contaminated, so microplastics are also found in a lot of fish. They particularly accumulate in the digestive tract of fish. If you're eating shellfish, clams, oysters, or anything where you're eating the whole digestive tract, or a whole sardine, then you're going to be getting microplastics.

Heat is another major factor when it's combined with plastic. To-go coffee is a common example.

Chris Williamson: Starbucks.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Starbucks or anything like that. It's a major source because studies of BPA leaching into liquid found that applying heat, such as boiling water, increased leaching by 55 times. Heat also increases microplastic breakdown by breaking down the plastic.

Chris Williamson: Not only are you getting more, but you're also making the plastic smaller, which allows it to permeate the gut more effectively.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Exactly. I can't tell you how many to-go coffees I've had in my life.

Another major source is tea bags. A couple of recent studies have examined this. You're adding hot water to tea, and the bags themselves are made of polypropylene, nylon, or, interestingly, cellulose. You might think cellulose wouldn't contain microplastics, but there must be a mixture of materials. One study published just a couple of months ago found millions to billions of microplastic particles per milliliter.

Chris Williamson: How does that compare with typical exposure? That's a large number.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: It's a tremendous amount.

Chris Williamson: Okay.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Yes. The heat appears to break down the plastic. These tea bags are made of plastic, so when I get to-go tea, I now think about consuming a plastic tea.

Chris Williamson: Yeah.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: But there are many studies, at least with green tea, showing substantial benefits for cognition. It delays dementia.

Chris Williamson: It might even offset the microplastics you've had to consume.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: People in those studies are probably drinking tea from tea bags, so the tea still has benefits. At least with green tea, there seem to be benefits.

Those are some of the major sources. Microplastics are also in salt and in the air, especially if you live in a polluted place.

Chris Williamson: Internally venting your dryer.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Venting your dryer inside the house is another major source. Black plastic is also worth considering. I know you're thinking, "What?"

Chris Williamson: This is some new data coming out.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Black plastic is often made from recycled electronics.

Chris Williamson: You mean bits of plastic that are black?

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Black utensils, such as a black spatula, plastic forks and knives, or the black plastic lid on a to-go coffee cup are examples. Other examples include the black bottom of a sushi container or a rotisserie chicken container. These products are often made from recycled electronics.

Recycled electronics often contain chemicals added to prevent fires. These include brominated flame retardants, which are carcinogenic. They're not supposed to be in food or go in your mouth. You don't suck on your electronics.

These black plastics have very high levels of carcinogens not normally found in food-contact plastics. A University of Plymouth study found that black utensils and baby toys contained 30 to 40 times the safe limit of brominated flame retardants and other carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.

Think about buying a rotisserie chicken or getting to-go pho or another soup in a black container. Heat adds another factor, making this another major source.

Chris Williamson: What about dermal exposure?

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: We mentioned phthalates, which are in personal hygiene products. You might look at the ingredient list and think it contains no phthalates, but two terms can indicate their presence. One is "fragrance." If fragrance appears in the ingredient list, the product may contain phthalates. "Parfum," not perfume, is another term that can indicate phthalates. Look for phthalate-free personal hygiene products. This is especially important for people considering conception because those chemicals are associated with disrupted sexual development in boys.

The other source is receipts. This is a major concern, though perhaps not for you and me. Receipts are made from thermal paper coated with BPA. Heat causes a thermal reaction that prints text on the receipt without ink. If you see a white coating on a receipt, that's BPA. In plastics, BPA is at least contained within a matrix. On a receipt, it isn't contained in the same way.

Chris Williamson: It's purposefully liberated.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Exactly. It's a free-for-all on the receipt. Studies have examined people who handle many receipts. At the airport on my way here, the man handling the receipt asked, "Do you want the receipt?" I said no. I watched him take it out and put it in the trash, and I thought about the huge line of people.

Chris Williamson: You're doing that 500 times a day.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Exactly. I looked at him and said, "I want to tell you that these receipts are lined with endocrine disruptors that affect hormones." He said, "You mean like testosterone?"

Chris Williamson: I wish somebody had recorded this. Oh my God. This lady is going through the airport. "I met this lady earlier today, and she started ranting and raving about the receipts. She said they're covered in magic dust that's killing me."

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: I couldn't help myself. I had to say something. He looked at me and said, "You mean like testosterone?" I said, "Yes. It's been correlated with decreased testosterone. You need to wear nitrile gloves."

The bottom line is that receipts are lined with BPA. Nitrile gloves can prevent people from absorbing it. Cashiers and others who handle receipts multiple times a day should wear nitrile gloves. Latex doesn't offer the same protection. Hand cream or hand sanitizer has also been shown to increase dermal BPA absorption by a hundredfold.

Chris Williamson: Fuck off.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Some people use hand sanitizer because they don't want contaminants on their hands.

Chris Williamson: "I don't want to get COVID." A hundred times?

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: A hundredfold absorption.

Chris Williamson: Think about how often cashiers do that. I've seen them use sanitizer and then touch a receipt. This isn't discussed very much, yet here I am worrying about my one-time exposure. Some people work at places like Target and handle receipts throughout the day.

The first time I learned about receipts was when I went to dinner with Owen Shroyer, who you won't know. He's effectively Alex Jones's second in command. This was when I first moved to Austin. He, several other people, and a couple of women were sitting at a table downtown. When the receipt arrived, I thought, "I'm new here. I'll get the meal. That would be a nice thing to do."

As I reached for the receipt, one of the women at the table hit my hand away. I said, "What?" She said, "What are you doing?" It was as if I was about to walk into open traffic. I told her I was going to add the tip. She said, "Are you crazy? You're going to touch that?"

It shows that a fringe insight from three years ago can sometimes hit the bullseye and become more widely known. I'm not saying all of it is correct, but some of it turns out to be legitimate.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick: It's definitely legitimate, and it's a particular concern for people who handle receipts multiple times a...