Reducing plastic contact in food, kitchenware, and personal-care products lowered several plastic-related chemicals in urine.
Plastic-associated chemicals are widespread in food packaging, kitchenware, and personal-care products, but it is difficult to know which everyday changes meaningfully reduce exposure. Researchers tested whether changing diet, food-contact materials, and personal-care products could alter urinary markers of phthalates and bisphenols, two major classes of plastic-associated chemicals that have been linked to cardiometabolic and hormonal health effects.
Enjoying this research? Get deeper insights like this delivered every other week.
Every other week our Premium Members receive deep dives like this alongside Rhonda's commentary and 8+ other hand-picked papers.
The study combined a short-term observational cohort with a small randomized trial. In the cohort, 211 healthy adults in Australia completed detailed diet and lifestyle assessments and provided three urine samples per day (morning, afternoon, and evening) on two separate days to measure plastic-associated chemicals. In the 7-day trial, 60 of these participants were randomized to one of five groups: personal-care products selected to reduce plastic-chemical exposure, food with minimized plastic contact, food with minimized plastic contact plus kitchenware and preparation changes, all three combined, or no intervention. Urine was collected on four separate days during the trial, again with three samples taken each day.
- In the cohort, urinary plastic-chemical markers were common: all 211 participants had at least six detectable markers on each sampled day. Packaged, processed, and canned foods were linked to some of these markers, while personal-care product use was linked mainly to phthalate markers.
- In the randomized trial, the clearest reductions appeared in the groups that received food with minimized plastic contact. When these three food-based groups were analyzed together, two phthalate markers fell by about 38% and 45%, BPA fell by about 52%, and total bisphenols fell by about 47%, compared to the control group with no intervention.
- Personal-care product swaps alone had a more limited effect. They reduced one phthalate marker by about 35%, but did not reduce bisphenols.
- The food-based intervention groups showed overlapping but not identical reductions. Food with minimized plastic contact alone lowered two phthalate markers by 31.5% and 46.7%, and total bisphenols by 58.5%. Food with minimized plastic contact plus low-plastic kitchenware and food-preparation changes lowered two phthalate markers by 37.5% and 53.5%, and BPA by 59.7%. The group that received food with minimal plastic contact, kitchenware and preparation changes, and low-plastic personal-care products showed reductions of 44.1% in one phthalate marker and 50.5% in total bisphenols.
- The interventions did not lower every plastic-chemical marker measured. DEHP-related phthalate markers did not decrease in any group.
The results suggest that exposure to some phthalates and bisphenols can be influenced by modifiable plastic touchpoints, especially those involving food. Phthalates and bisphenols can migrate from plastic-contact materials into foods, beverages, and personal-care products, then enter the body through ingestion, skin contact, or inhalation. The lack of reduction in DEHP markers suggests that not all plastic-associated chemicals changed under this intervention. DEHP may come from other sources or leave the body more slowly.
This was a small, short, exploratory trial that measured urinary exposure markers, without directly assessing chemical levels in the intervention materials. However, the observed changes in urinary markers suggest that reducing plastic contact in everyday routines can meaningfully lower exposure to several of these chemicals. In this clip, I share practical tips for reducing everyday exposure to microplastics and plastic-related chemicals.