What’s the bottom line right now, today?
Numerous sources have declared microplastics do not impact human health. But that’s largely because no direct evidence of this exists yet.
Even the WHO in its report suggests that progress must happen if we’re to fully understand the scope of the problem.
“Strengthening of the evidence necessary for reliable characterization and quantification of the risks to human health posed by [nano- and microplastics] will require active participation by all stakeholders,” it said.
All researchers interviewed for this article agree we don’t have enough evidence to draw any definite conclusions. But “if you look at the wrong endpoints, things will look safe, until you look at the endpoint where it’s really causing the problem,” said Dr. Leslie.
We must research our blind spots and continually ask: Where could we be wrong?
“It is a problem; it’s not going to go away,” said Dr. Danopoulos. “It’s going to get worse, and will continue to get worse, not by something that we are doing now but by something we did 5 years ago.”
Perhaps the question to be asked, then, is the hardest to answer: Are we willing to wait for the science?
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.