Guide to Reduce Microplastics

The Definitive Guide to Removing Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Microplastics from Your Life and Home

Cosmetics, cleaning products, pesticides used in conventional agriculture, and specific molecules found in plastic fibers (like Phthalates, found in soft and flexible Polyesters and waterproof plastic coatings) are known endocrine disrupting chemicals.  Some of these chemicals are known carcinogens and others, like Phthalates, can bind to Estrogen hormone receptors in both men and women, causing long term damage to reproductive and physical health.

Knowing these toxins exist and can disrupt our health, what are the pathways that they can enter the body?

SKIN, LUNGS, & INGESTION

SKIN

1. Clothing:

In Benefits of Organic Cotton we discussed how the largest organ of the human body is the skin.  We explained how the lipid rich environment of the skin helps play a crucial role in keeping out pathogens (fungal, bacterial and viral) in order to keep us safe.  We learned how our skin is a selectively permeable barrier that can and will absorb lipid-like molecules from its environment it comes into contact with.  When natural, these fat and lipid-soluble molecules are very beneficial for our health, but unfortunately this same mechanism also allows the absorption of toxins as well.

Solution: The best way to protect us from absorbing these toxic chemicals via our skin is to wear organic fabrics.

Common Fabric items Containing Microplastics

Clothing:
  • Synthetic Fabrics: Polyester, Nylon, Acrylic, Polypropylene, Spandex, Fleece, Rayon, Acetate.
  • Faux furs and fabrics that of which fibers easily fall away from the garments are especially bad because they have the added risk of being inhaled or ingested.
Bedding / Stuffed Animals/ Plush Toys:
  • Micro-fiber pillows, and blankets.  Micro-fibers = microplastics.
  • Acrylic sheets, pillow cases and pajamas.
  • Stuffed animals and 99% of plush toys are made with synthetic fibers. 
Carpet & other Materials
  • Fabrics or materials that are soft and flexible means they are treated with "plasticizers" which contain phthalates.

 Suggested items to replace them with:

Clothing:

  • Organic clothing fibers like cotton, linen, canvas and wool.  Replace faux fur with real fur or wool.

Bedding / Stuffed Animals/ Plush Toys:

  • Always use organic bedding sheets and pillow cases.  You spend 1/3rd of your life sleeping. 
  • Use down comforters and organic cotton blankets.
  • Never sleep in acrylic sheets or pajamas. 

Carpet & other Materials

  • Go with wool carpets if a carpet is desired. 
  • Replace any synthetic fiber throw blankets with wool or organic cotton.

 

2. Cosmetics & Body Care:

In What Are Microbeads? we discuss how microplastics used under many different names (Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Nylon, Polyurethane, Methacrylate Copolymer).  We discussed how these microplastics are banned in many European countries but they are still not universally banned.  They can be found in cosmetics and even in tooth paste.

Solution: The best way to protect us from absorbing these toxic chemicals via our skin is to use only use natural based skin products.

Notes: Even products labeled as "natural", the ingredient list should always be checked.  Look up what the active ingredients are that are in the product you are using.  If its not the oil of a plant or animal, chances are that product is not good for your well being.

If you wouldn't put the product in your body, you shouldn't put it on your body.

Common Body Care items Containing Microplastics

Exfoliating Scrubs and Body Washes

  • facial scrubs that are not explicitly organic or natural
  • body wash exfoliators containing microbeads such as polyethylene or polypropylene

Toothpastes

  • "Whitening" and "Polishing" toothpaste products contain microplastic particles for added abrasiveness to "clean"and "whiten" teeth.

    Make Up Cosmetics

    • Foundations, concealers, primers, and tinted moisturizers containing polyethylene.

      Shampoos & Conditioners:

      • "Exfoliating" Shampoos or "conditioning" beads, containing polyethylene
      • "Hydrating" Shampoos and conditioners containing Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

         Lotions, Lip Balms, Hand & Foot Creams:

        • Although not exactly a microplastics, many lotions are a petroleum based product (petroleum jelly) that work to "prevent moisture loss" 
        • inorganic waxes used for "smoothing" skin or moisture retention, contain paraffin which is solid form of petroleum.

           Suggested items to replace them with:

          Exfoliating Scrubs and Body Washes

          • opt out of "exfoliants" and do it the old fashion way: use a natural bristle scrub brush.
          • For any additional exfoliation of the skin use sugar or salt.

          Toothpastes

          • Good oral hygiene comes from the food you eat, and healthy candida.  The friction of bristles brushing is what keeps your teeth clean, not the additives put in the toothpaste.

          Make Up Cosmetics

          • Use naturally based cosmetic brands that have small ingredient lists, and use minerals like silica or mica, and use oils like jojoba and shea butter. 

          Shampoos & Conditioners:

          • Wash and condition your hair using natural hair products that use coconut, aloe vera, Argan oil, apple cider vinegar, or castile soap.

           Lotions, Lip Balms, Hand & Foot Creams:

          • Only use products that are organic.  Unlike make up and other cosmetics that are meant to be washed off, lotions and creams are intended to be left on and absorbed into the skin: always use skin products with organic ingredients.
          • Animal Tallow rendered from suet (fat found around organs) is the best skin care product you can use.  Beef Tallow contains cholesterol (an important & healthy hormone), Vitamin E, K2, Omega-3 & 6.  All of these nutrients our skin can absorb!

          LUNGS

          Home / Work Environment

          Breathing in these endocrine disrupting chemicals is potentially how the largest amount of these toxins enter our body.  Unless you are directly working with these chemicals (ie. farmer spraying pesticides, or a factory worker at a plastic manufacturing plant) most of the endocrine disrupting chemicals we encounter on a daily basis are the ones we have unknowingly brought into our own homes.

          The Most common micro-plastic materials that we breath in are in the form of small strands of fibers found in synthetic clothing fibers and faux fur products.  Which, in a way, is a good thing because it means all we have to do is remove these same fibers and materials we already did for our skin, in order to avoid the most common way these microplastics get in our body!

          Solution: The best way to protect us from absorbing these toxic chemicals via our lungs is by avoiding the same synthetic fiber products we had to avoid in order to protect our skin.

          Notes: The most important way to keep out microplastics from our lungs is to keep these products out of our homes.  The faux fur pillows, micro-fiber throws, and stuffed animal toys are most important to remove because these fabrics not only touch the skin, but every time they are interacted with, they become airborne. 

           

          INGESTION

          Studies have now confirmed that microplastic contaminates have been found in everything from seafood to salt to bottled water and even honey.  

          The more plastic products humans make, the more micro-plastics end up in the air, earth and ocean.   The contamination of micro-plastics in our food supply are a direct result of the massive industries based on the cheap solutions that plastic manufacturing has created.  Unfortunately these are not real solutions, they create more problems.  Single use plastics and fast fashion synthetic fabrics end up in our oceans or land-fills just as quickly as they are made.  Until strict regulations are put in place, this trend appears to be continuing, even as scientific studies are consistently showing plastic based products are toxic to our health.  

          Solution: The best way to protect us from absorbing these toxic chemicals via ingestion is to eat organic foods and use home water filtration systems.

          Common Ingested items Containing Microplastics

          Food:

          • Filter feeding species like oysters, mussels and clams are most likely to contain microplastics.
          • Fish, with added risk of heavy metals like mercury, are a food source to be ingested with caution.
          • Modern Sea salts, 90% have been found to contain microplastics. 

          Food Containers

          • "To-go" containers like Styrofoam (Polystyrene, a petroleum-derived plastic), especially when exposed to acidic or heated foods can leech Styrene, a possible carcinogen.
          • "Cling wrap" like Saran wrap and other flexible wraps, especially when exposed to acidic or heated foods, will leech Phthalates.
          • Canned food may contain Bisphenol-A, due to the interior plastic coating leeching into the food.

          Kitchen, Cookware and Utensils

          • "Non-Stick" Cookware like Teflon (PTFE) is considered stable and enert, however, older cookware still contains Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) which is a forever chemical.  Any Teflon if overheated will release toxic fumes.
          • Plastic utensils are very problematic, with light abrasions and heat they will degrade and plastics will get into your food.

          Drinking water

          • Bottled water commonly contains PET, polypropylene, polyethylene and Phthalates (leeched from PVC).  In a 2018 study from State University of New York, 93% of bottled water samples were found to contain an average of 10.4 microplastic particles per liter.

           Suggested items to replace them with:

          Food:

          • Land animal meats fed organic feed, raised on small family farm lands with no history of industrial agriculture have the lowest levels of pollutants, chemicals and microplastics.
          • Salts gathered from ancient seas like Himalayan Sea Salt are the cleanest in terms of microplastics as they were formed when plastics hadn't been invented yet.

          Food Containers

          • Don't use To-go containers unless you brought your own.
          • Use glass, or stainless steel for your re-usable containers at home.
          • To replace saran wraps: use beeswax wraps, they work remarkably well. 
          • When eating food from a can, make sure it is labeled clearly as a BPA-free can.

          Kitchen, Cookware and Utensils

          • Stainless Steel cookware is king.  Durable and can withstand any type of utensil wether wooden or metal.
          • Use wooden or stainless steel utensils

          Drinking water

          • Use a water filtration system that filters out to 2 or 1 micron size particles, and you will effectively have filtered out all of microplastics and pollutants.
          • Use a stainless steel or glass water bottle and wrap it in a strong carrying case so it cant be broken.

          This concludes the Sacred Geometrix Guide to Reduce Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Microplastics in Your Life and Home. 

          Please email us at connect@sacredgeometrix.com if you believe there is new or important studies or research you would like us to include in our guide.

          To your well being,

          - Sacred Geometrix