TAKE THIS PERSONALLY: Microplastics Uncovered: How They Impact Our Health, Food, and Planet

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "TAKE THIS PERSONALLY: Microplastics Uncovered – How They Impact Our Health, Food, and Planet"

Podcast: The Bobby Bones Show
Host: Morgan Huelsman (D)
Guest: Donna (A) – Microplastics researcher and startup founder
Date: November 23, 2025
Duration: Approx. 55 minutes (content portion)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the science, environmental, and health impact of microplastics with expert guest Donna, a globally recognized microplastics researcher and educator. Host Morgan Huelsman leads an insightful conversation ranging from the basics of microplastics to practical household swaps and policy advocacy.

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Main Discussion Themes

• Personal Backstory and Motivation for Microplastics Research
• What Are Microplastics? (Definitions & Types)
• Ubiquity of Microplastics in Daily Life
• Health and Environmental Concerns
• How Microplastics Enter the Ecosystem
• Individual Action, Activism, and Optimism for Change
• Creative Solutions and Notable Educational Resources

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Detailed Discussion Breakdown

1. Donna’s Story: Environmental Tragedy to Scientific Advocacy

[04:27 – 09:41]

• Donna recounts family origins in Kazakhstan near the devastated Aral Sea, once one of the world’s largest lakes, now 90% gone due to human mismanagement.
• Personal loss (relatives with cancer, asthma) motivated her study in environmental science.

Notable Quote:
"Every environmental disaster equals human health crisis, unfortunately... There’s not a single person who will not be affected [by microplastics], even if you don’t use any plastic at all, it’s already in our air and water."
— Donna [08:00]

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2. Break Down: What Are Microplastics?

[13:00 – 16:00]

• Definition: Tiny particles of plastic less than 5mm in size.
• Types:
  • Secondary Microplastics: Broken down from larger debris (bags, bottles).
  • Primary Microplastics: Intentionally manufactured small (for abrasives, industrial use, personal care products).

Why Added to Products?

• Cheap, stable, act as fillers or texture agents in cosmetics and industrial goods.
• Regulatory response is slow—while some microplastics are banned, hundreds of ingredients remain legal.

Notable Quote:
"Microplastics are literally everywhere. Whenever, wherever scientists are looking for them, they find them in very distant lands, all our food, water, air, everything, even clouds."
— Donna [07:30]

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3. Shocking Ubiquity: Where Are Microplastics Found?

[15:56 – 19:00, 27:18 – 31:07]

• Common Unseen Sources:
  • Paper cups (lined with plastic)
  • Chewing gum (polyvinyl acetate base)
  • Most modern clothing (polyester, nylon, acrylic)
• Even in products labeled "paper" or "natural," plastics are often present.

Host Reaction:
"You're telling me all these years I've been chewing on gum and it was really me chewing on plastic?"
— Morgan [16:58]

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4. Plastic’s Double-Edged Sword: Science, Medicine, and Society

[22:22 – 26:35]

• Plastic has enabled advances—sterile single-use medical supplies, accessibility in science.
• Challenge: Balancing necessary uses (e.g., labs, hospitals) with rampant overconsumption elsewhere.

Donna’s Advice:

• Focus on reducing "convenience" single-use plastics first.

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5. Practical Household Solutions and Plastic Swaps

[27:18 – 29:23]

• Kitchen is Critical Exposure Point:
  • Prioritize replacing plastics used with heat (microwave containers, utensils) with glass, metal, or wood.
  • Key Principle: Heat + Plastic = Massive Microplastic Release
• At Room Temperature: Plastics are more stable but still shed over time with friction.

Notable Quote:
"When it comes to plastic plus heat, it's always a generation of literally a lot of microplastics, thousands or even millions."
— Donna [28:07]

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6. Microplastics in Air, Water, and the Food Chain

[29:23 – 35:35]

• How They Spread:

  • Degradation of littered plastics (sun, mechanical action)
  • Industrial waste, tire abrasion, wastewater discharges
  • Even after filtration, concentrated sludge becomes fertilizer, reintroducing microplastics to agriculture.

• At-home Tips:

  • Regularly open windows, vacuum often to cut indoor microplastics.
  • No significant research yet on air purifiers’ effectiveness for microplastics.

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7. Environmental and Societal Action

[36:09 – 38:16]

• Individual efforts matter!
  • Reduce consumption
  • Discuss microplastic issues with friends and community
  • Support petitions, regulations, and policy changes

Local Impact Example:
"In Astana, Kazakhstan…there’s like a billion microplastics per day discharged directly into the water."
— Donna [37:45]

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8. The Future Outlook: Dire but Hopeful?

[42:20 – 46:09]

• Microplastic research is very new (term coined 2004; exponential growth of publications since 2014).
• Early signs point to microplastics stunting plant growth and reducing photosynthesis rates by 7-13%.
• Current food loss from microplastics estimated at 130 million metric tons annually.

Bright Spot:
"We only need to reduce our plastic waste by 13% to negate the effect of microplastics…13% is quite doable."
— Donna [46:09]

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9. Recycling, Reuse, and Responsible Disposal

[48:51 – 50:43]

• Don’t simply throw away plastics—repurpose old kitchenware for non-food use (plant pots, craft, pet shelters).
• Donate gently used goods to extend usefulness and keep plastic out of landfills.

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10. Final Advice & Resources

[51:36 – 56:23]

• We’re at a key historical moment: microplastic harm is clear early, and we have the technology and awareness to solve it before it spirals like climate change.
• Actively spread awareness, take small steps, leverage creative solutions.

Educational Tools:

• App: “Microplastic Free” – Scan products for microplastics and access trusted plastic-free brands. Includes petitions section for advocacy.

Donna’s Socials:

• Instagram & TikTok: @dankaje
  (Linked in show notes).

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• "Environmental science is just a science of studying problems, which is quite…yeah, I know it’s very sad and can be very anxious about that. But with microplastics, I really do have a lot of hope." — Donna [51:54]
• "If you swap out the things from plastic to glass and all the other non-plastic materials, you will be exposed to less microplastics, not to zero...but you will be reducing and probably reducing significantly." — Donna [29:42]
• "People always underestimate themselves…this is already an impact, you know, so this is great." — Donna [47:23]

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Key Takeaways

• Microplastics are everywhere and affect everyone, regardless of individual consumption patterns.
• Individual actions do matter—reducing plastic in your daily life, especially when it comes to food and heat, makes a tangible impact.
• Policy and awareness are crucial—voice concerns, sign petitions, and vote for environmental stewards.
• We are early enough in the crisis to make real change before it becomes unmanageable.

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Useful Timestamps

• Donna’s personal backstory: [04:27 – 10:24]
• Definition and types of microplastics: [13:00 – 15:01]
• Ubiquity in daily products: [15:56 – 17:14]
• Kitchen swaps and home action: [27:18 – 28:38]
• Effects on ecosystem & plants: [43:36 – 44:35]
• Hope for the future: [51:54 – 54:00]
• Resource shout-outs (app/socials): [54:28 – 56:23]

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For Listeners: To Learn and Act

• Follow Donna @dankaje for scientifically-backed microplastics content
• Download "Microplastic Free" app for education, scanning, and advocacy
• Talk to friends, vote, and support policies to reduce plastic
• Make practical swaps in your home, especially for anything heated
• Remember, even small reductions add up—a 13% cut in plastic use is significant

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End on hope, stay informed, and take action—for your health and the planet.

Transcript

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The hottest of hot topics lately, microplastics. Everyone is working on their health and wellness these days and we love to see it. So this next series dives into that further, but with the help of science and research. I have microplastics researcher Donna joining this week to give us an actual breakdown of what's happening in the world of microplastics. And if it's as bad as it seems, then integrative health practitioner Kara Clark is joining me next week. She's been helping me get through all the detoxes and cleanses, trying to rid my body of long Covid and getting me back to some prime health. You may remember her from another episode she did with me several months ago. But first, let's get into the world of microplastics. Well, microplastics have officially taken over the Internet. Everybody's talking about them and so I thought what better to do than go straight to a source. So Donna is joining me from a completely different time zone. I hi Donna, thanks for coming on.

[A]

Hi everyone. Excited to be here and talk about microplastics. My favorite topic.

[D]

Yeah, so you are a microplastics researcher and you're a startup founder. So I want to hear your whole backstory and how you even got into this line of work.

[A]

Yeah, of course. I will start with my like back backstory background. So I'm from Kazakhstan originally and both of my parents, they're from the rlc. The RLC is the region in Kazakhstan where a huge environmental disaster took place in the 60s. So basically the RL was once one of the largest lakes in the world. However, due to human activities, due to mismanagement and stuff like that, we unfortunately lost 90% of the sea of the lake and we only have 10% of it left. If you like Google literally the RLC before and after, you'll be shocked by the pictures. You will see how it was so big and right now it's just a thin strand of water and that's really devastating just by the fact of it. But of course, because it's an environmental disaster, it also affected the ecosystem, the very unique biodiversity that we had. We lost almost all of it and yeah, of course, a huge economic decline because the people of that area, they heavily relied on this lake as a source of income and food as fishing industry collapsed because of that. And of course, every environmental disaster equals human health crisis, unfortunately. And for me, since my relatives are from there, yeah, I had a lot of relatives lost to cancer. Some of them had asthma, allergies, and all of those sad things just because of this environmental disaster that had. And this was one of the main and first reasons for me to become interested in environmental science and sustainability. That's why I doing my bachelor's in civil environmental engineering. That was the most close, the closest thing to environmental science that I had in my university as my option, unfortunately. But that was also a great opportunity for me that I had a different perspective to environmental science as well. And I had a great environmental chemistry professor who I joined to do some more research. We honestly did really different topics. So we did air pollution, water pollution, environmental risk assessment, assessment. And yeah, we did different stuff. But after I graduated, my professor was like, okay, maybe you need to have one of your own topics. So you would work on that and lead on that topic. And what if you try microplastics? And honestly, I was not interested at all. I was like, okay, but I had the reason to be not interested because we don't cover the topic of microplastics or plastics in environmental fields, you know, which you would expect to do that. But we don't because it's a very new topic. It's still not in the education system. And that's why I was also like, yeah, probably it's not as big as climate change, you know, But I was like, okay, I'm gonna give it a shot. I will just read some papers. Let's see, like, what is happening in that science area. And honestly, I started reading papers and I was so shocked with everything because microplastics are literally everywhere. And whenever, wherever scientists are looking for them, they find them in very distant lands, in all of our food, water, air, everything in clouds. And that was even before. It was three years ago. So it was even before, like some of the papers about, you know, microplastics in human body. And that was already shocking for me. And another thing is, was the lack of regulations. You know, there are almost no regulations on microplastics. And since I was working specifically on the topic of microplastics discharging from wastewater treatment plants, I realized that there are literally no regulations on microplastic discharge anywhere in the world. So any country can discharge as many microplastics as they can want and that will not be fined, regulated or monitored, you know. So I was very interested in this topic. That's why I was like, okay, I want to work more and more. So I worked in research in Kazakhstan. We published the paper. I worked a bit in Spain, microplastic research, and here in Germany as well. And yeah, I started because I also understand that science is great, research is great, but I also want to talk about this topic more so people know because, you know, literally everyone is affected by Microplast. There's not a single person who will not be affected. Even if you don't use any plastic at all, it's already in our air and water, so you will be exposed. And I was like, okay, I want people to know. I want everyone to, you know, talk about this. So I started creating videos, educational videos on, on Instagram. And I saw a huge interest from people. People were very curious, they were asking questions. And that's why maybe I also had a very big growth on social media. So I had zero followers last year and I have over 100,000 like right now. And this was very crazy for me. And yeah, I think I was doing a long introduction, but yeah, that's basically it.

[D]

No, this is a great introduction to who you are. And first of all, I want to recognize that you took something that was happening in not only your community, but your life. You were personally affected by something that was happening. And you said, how can I make this better? And that's what you're doing, which is really cool. I think it's awesome when people find a way to not only be able to wish they could help their community, but actually go about doing something to hopefully make it better not just for theirs, but for everybody. So I love that part of your story and I also think it's cool if you're able to speak to it like personally. What was that experience like when you had family members and stuff and there was this economic disaster happening and you couldn't really do anything about it?

[A]

I mean, it all happened way before I was born. I was in the 60s, I was born in late 90s, so I don't really know what was happening during that time. But I had my grandfather, I have my grandfather who did a lot of work in order to restore some of the parts of RLC or at least maintain what is left right now. Because if it wasn't for his efforts, we would like everything would disappear, but he at least could save some part of it that we have right now, and apart from that, he told me a lot of stories how he went fishing, for example, with his father to that lake. Or I also heard stories about, like, for example, whenever I came there, there's no water around. Like, in order to see the rlc, which was our city, was used to be on the shores of the lake. And right now when you come there, you cannot see anything. And you literally need to go and drive for several hours just to see it and imagine it was the city on the shores of the lake. And. Yeah, and he also told me the stories how you can feel the breeze of the lake in the city because it was a very salty lake. So you can feel the breeze. You can. Yeah, the children played there and all of this. And of course, it's very devastating and sad understanding that you would never be able to experience this in your lifetime because this has disappeared and all because of. Of humans, of. Because of us. And of course it's sad, of course. And yeah, understanding that you cannot really do something, it's pretty depressing. But I do have a big dream to one day to create a project or anything that it will be dealing with that area. Of course.

[D]

Of course you do. I am not surprised at all based on how you already are. And it's probably a cool experience for you now, doing what you are. And I bet you it's something you wish. I'm not sure if your grandfather is still around, but I'm sure it's something you. You wish that you could share with him and just show all of the things that you're now doing to help in other ways.

[A]

Yeah, he sees everything. He just doesn't understand English. So he doesn't really understand what I'm doing, But he's proud anyway. That's fair.

[D]

Well, I love that there's this personal tie. I think that's so cool. But let's get into microplastics. So you've learned so, so much, and I cannot imagine all the things you've learned. I can tell just from your social media. So give us the very, very minimal basics to start, and then we'll kind of branch from there.

[A]

Yeah, I would like to just give maybe a definition to microplastics. So microplastics are just small, tiny particles of plastic less than 5 millimeters they should be in order to consider microplastics. And we usually divide them into two types, primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. So secondary microplastics are those that broke down from larger plastic objects. So, like microplastics from plastic bags or. Or from plastic bottles. And for the primary microplastics are those microplastics that were intentionally manufactured to be very small. It could be a bit confusing because why would anyone produce microplastics? Right. But microplastics are used actually for industrial br. Abrasives, for pains, even in some personal care products, as sometimes as fillers or sometimes to give a. A cream, for example, to give a certain texture or feel to a certain product. For example, if the cream is too watery, you add microplastics and it becomes thicker.

[D]

And so why did those products like microplastics, why did they even originally get created? Why did they start getting added into products? What was the purpose behind them?

[A]

I think one side from it is very cheap to produce them. It's like a very, very cheap material. And it's considered to be more or less stable. So they added to personal care products. But some microplastics were already banned in the U.S. korea, in some. It to some extent in the European Union as well in Canada. But not all of them, not all of the types of microplastics are bad right now.

[D]

Wow. Okay, so there's different types and obviously there's a workaround. So it's like, okay, well, these are banned. So it looks like we've banned micro plastics, but they're technically not all banned.

[A]

Yeah, that's true. And in general, there are so. So plastic can be a very big shapeshifter. So they have a lot of different types. So maybe you've heard of the normal seven months, like polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, poly. What else exists? Polystyrene and all of this mainstream plastics. But honestly, there are like hundred types of plastic that exist and currently from one European. So there was a letter in order to ban more and more microplastics. I don't remember which organization did the letter, but they recognized over 500. 500 ingredients and personal care products as microplastics. Yeah. So there could be more than 500 ingredients that are microplastics.

[D]

Actually, I would love to know the list of things, what all are microplastics actually in. So I know that you mentioned some of these food things and you mentioned clouds, which is something that someone, a normal person like me can't really do anything about. But so what is that list that we're looking at here of things that do have microplastics?

[A]

So for the things that do have microplastics in them, I think almost everything has at this point, probably, unfortunately. Yeah. But if we talk about the materials itself, like what you can avoid in order to produce microplastics. And you probably don't know that this is made of plastic paper cups for example. The name is paper cup that is actually lined with plastic inside. There are also chewing gum. This is one of the shocking ones, chewing gum. The base of the chewing gum is polyvinyl acetate if I remember correctly. And it's a plastic. So chewing gum right now it's like literally flavored plastic. Yeah. You're kidding me.

[D]

You're telling me all these years I've been chewing on gum and it was really me chewing on plastic?

[A]

Probably, yeah. Most of the commercial ones are like that. There are some brands that create like plastic free chewing gum that you can look for. Not a lot of them, I guess.

[D]

I'm shocked that we even have to create plastic free things.

[A]

Yeah, that's true. Originally chewing gum doesn't have that didn't have any plastic in the beginning. It's just, you know, they swipe up for example with the clothes. With the clothing it's the same thing because you know, we've been wearing clothing for thousands of years literally. And plastic started to exist only less than a century ago, like around 80 years ago. But right now almost all of our clothes are made of plastic out of synthetics like polyester and acrylics, nylon and stuff like that. So this is really. Yeah, I know this is like so strange, so weird. But plastic has, I don't know, with such a growth it became a part of almost everything. And you know, when you think about like it's not possible to live without plastic, but we did live without plastic, right? Like literally a century ago.

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I'm assuming too like did people like they discovered that plastics could be. You had mentioned that it can be very valuable in the sense that it can be manipulated into anything. So do you feel like it was being used by different people just to like as a kind of a cheaper product? Are plastic even cheaper? I guess, I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, plastic in general, it's a very affordable, cheap material to use. So just to give some good reputation to plastic. Plastic was one of the reasons why our medicine and science skyrocketed because science became and medicine as industries as fields became very accessible to everyone. Because for example, if you think about medicine industry like again a century ago, right, you would use the same syringe, for example, because you cannot always, you know, buy a syringe made out of glass or and you cannot at the same time properly clean it and disinfect it. So right now we have syringes that are made of plastic and single use, which is really great for us because then we will not transfer diseases or for example, for science as well, we use a lot of single use plastic on the same science. So think about gloves, the masks and all of the pipettes. Everything that we use is, almost everything that we use is made out of plastic or even like worse, single use plastic, which is of course bad for the environment but good for the science because you know, everything is clean and not affected by anything but any other chemicals.

[D]

So when something is, that's what's really hard about this, right? Is because you have something that's obviously helping us in the science world. It's helping us in advancements in medicine and being able to not transmit diseases. But then it's bad for the environment. So how do you, as somebody who's researching this try to figure out, okay.

[A]

Well how can we do both?

[D]

Or can we do both? What's the, I guess middle ground to meet on when these type of topics come up?

[A]

I think one of the first thing that we need to deal with is overconsumption. So I think the way we consume everything might be one of the part of the problems and might be a solution for us because overconsumption is really a big problem. We have too much Clothing, like, compared to what we used to have. For example, we use a lot of single use plastic that is not necessary in most of the cases. Like, for example, again, with paper cups, you can have a reusable cup. There's nothing wrong with that. Or for the plastic bags, we don't really need them, right? Because we have somehow we managed to do that, to do groceries without them. And right now, for example, I live in Germany and I never have plastic bags. I'm always with my tote bag. And it's not, you know, it's not such a big difference. So I would say one of the roots of the problem is definitely over consumption from other sizes, also an overproduction of things, because that also contributes to the problem. But I would say this thing is what matters because in terms of like, for example, as we said again, like medicine and science, it would be difficult for us to say, okay, don't do science or don't heal people now because we hate plastics. Right? But I think it's also a point that we need to consider in science. For example, I see some people, some researchers being concerned about that and even doing more research on how we can greenify our labs, make them more sustainable, make them to have less plastic. Of course, in those fields where you need like, you cannot swap for anything, then of course keep your plastics. But if it's not that necessary, I think it's doable for us to reduce, so maybe not make them disappear completely for our lives. But reducing is a very good, good, great step towards sustainability. So.

[D]

And you also mentioned, like, you talked about using things, especially in your household, when you're talking about paper cups, what are the swaps that we should be making? Because obviously everything does consume microplastics now. But what are the things that you approve of? As somebody who's done research on all of this, you've seen all the different things happen. What are things that you would personally have in your home? You're like, I'm okay with having this. You see a lot of people online and they're making swaps. Like they're swapping to glassware and they're, you know, making sure they're using stainless steel or just the different, especially kitchen items, skincare items. Like, so much of this conversation revolves around the fact, okay, yes, we should do that, but what do we switch to and what do we use?

[A]

Yeah, I would agree with the kitchen point because I would say that's like the biggest point of exposure to microplastics. And I would definitely tell people like if you want to start to have less microplastic, that's like the first starting point is kitchen because that's where we basically expose ourselves to microplastics the most. Especially because we usually eat hot food and hot drinks. So I would strongly suggest to try and swap out all the plastics that has to deal with heat. So for example, if it's a plastic container that you put in your microwave, or if it's any other plastic cutlery, I would strongly suggest and try to reduce that or swap it out completely to either glass, to either steel or any other metal or either wood. Also a good suggestion because when it comes to plastic plus heat, it's always a generation of literally a lot of microplastics, thousands or even millions. So this is very important for when I talk about microplastic and advice around them is for people to remember that heat plus plastic is always equals to a lot of microplastics.

[D]

Okay. And that's what I was going to ask you because you mentioned that. So when plastic is in cold, does it have a, it a different reaction or is it really just. We need to be really careful about heat and plastic in general.

[A]

Yeah, I would say when it's at room temperature, it would be more stable. I cannot say that it will not break down to microplastic. It still can, especially if there's some, you know, physical, you know, traction or anything, it would still be able to produce microplastics to release microplastics. But with heat it just increases hundreds or thousands fold. That's why. Yeah, that's why a lot of researchers say, like, don't heat anything in plastic. That's very important.

[D]

And so. Okay, so you also mentioned that it's in clouds and it's in water. How the heck are we supposed to not be consuming the things that are around us in our environment? Like how can we balance out that microplastic consumption?

[A]

As I said, everyone will be exposed to microplastics, but it all depends on the concentration. Of course, if you swap out the things like from plastic to glass and all the other non plastic materials, you will be exposed to less microplastics, not to zero microplastics. Of course that's not possible, unfortunately at this time. But you will be reducing and probably reducing significantly because yes, it's in the air and in the water, but the amount you are exposed to from like water and air will be always be less than for example, from your food that you made in plastic and you eat it every day in terms of what you can do. Of course, there's not much you can do, especially concerned with clouds, for example, but if it's microplastics in the air, because right now there's some research going on that, yeah, microplastics is in your houses and in your cars. And of course, the indoor concentration of microplastics is way, way, way higher than, for example, outdoors. So one of the things you can do is, of course, one of the advice I would give is to open your windows regularly so your microplastics will be out in the wild and vacuum your house more or less often. Yeah. And that way you can reduce microplastics.

[D]

Do you think air purifiers help at all with any of microplastics, or is that kind of a myth?

[A]

I never encountered any research about that. So either it wasn't research, so there are no proofs, or I just didn't see that. Yeah. Okay.

[D]

That's interesting, though, because it's for sure, you know, that you see all the air purifiers being bought, and that's like a thing where they're like, okay, it's gonna purify your air. I'm like, okay, purify it from microplastics. And that would awesome.

[A]

Yeah. But also depends, because if an air purifier is made out of plastic and usually it's, you know, hot. It's getting hot.

[D]

Right.

[A]

The purifier. So it can introduce some microplastics into the air in exchange of, you know, removing other chemicals. So that depends.

[E]

Wow.

[D]

Yeah. So it's really paying attention now. So you said, like, reducing that. Is there also being this environmental side of things just to ease anybody's minds who are also like me, and I'm just really blissfully unaware of the environmental side of this. So with microplastics, how are they getting into our water, and how are they getting into the air that we're breathing? Like, what is that process? Like, just take me all the way back to school, because we definitely did not learn about this in school.

[A]

Yeah. So basically, how there are primary microplastics, as I said, there are not as many of them as secondary microplastics, of course, but primary microplastics, they are either introduced into our environment during the production. So if some of them. Yeah, just for example, if something is produced and some of the microplastics, they can be introduced into the air by accident. For example, when it comes to secondary microplastics is. You've probably seen a lot of plastic waste, like, just Laying all over the world, you know, in the beaches, in the water and everywhere. And of course, with time, it will release microplastic with any physical damage, any physical contact with anything. It also release microplastics. And sun heat also will make. Yeah. Larger plastic objects to release microplastic. And it's releasing into our water, air, and soil. Depends on where the plastic is. And since plastic is not really, you know, biodegradable, so as we. As we know, it can stay around for like hundreds of years. So, for example, there's one microplastics. It goes into the water, and it can stay in our water and travel all around the world for like, many, many years. So it will add up, you create a new plastic object, it will release more microplastic, and it will stay in the system. And some of the points of discharge for microplastics is, of course, as I said, wastewater treatment plants, they do discharge microplastics into our water bodies without any regulations, as I said, without any monitoring. Another thing is tires. Tires is considered a huge contributor to microplastics. So, like tires in the cars. In our cars, yeah. And there's a lot of physical friction, you know, between the road and tires, and they all get in either air or with water. It goes into the system, and then this water goes into our water. And even when. Because, you know, with water treatment plants, they do filter some amount of microplastics. It can be even a huge percentage, like 90, 95, 99% of microplastics are filtered from the water. But then it all goes into the sludge. And in some countries, they use this sludge. I know in some states of the U.S. they also do that. They use this sludge as fertilizer. So, you know, this sludge is a concentrated. Concentrated with microplastics. So all the microplastics that were caught during the filtration process is in the sludge. And this dislodge goes as a fertilizers into our soils that we grow our crops or anything or fruits or veggies with that fertilizer. And that's how basically, for example, the microplastics are introduced into our vegetables or any other crops or anything like that.

[D]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

So basically it's just one giant evolving monster that keeps evolving as we keep doing things.

[A]

Yeah, that's true. Wow. Okay.

[D]

So environmentally. So, like, we, you know, we see the things that we can do as humans. Oh, like less consumption, Trying to change the things that we're using and being really intentional about the products that we're using, what can we do environmentally to help reduce our imprint when it comes to microplastics? Because obviously we all have a role in this. What can each of us be doing, maybe even just a little bit to make that imprint, hopefully a little bit less as the years go on.

[A]

Yeah. So the first thing is of course reduce your consumption. Anything, it could be even not plastic, but plastic is also very important. Reduce your single use, waste as much as it's possible. It really makes a difference and it really, it's really what we need right now. Even if you feel like, oh, I'm an individual, I really hope that we stop this talk with, I'm just an individual, we really need to stop that because your actions, they do really matter. And yeah, the first thing is to reduce your consumption. The second thing is I always say take action, like at least learn more about the problem and also try and talk about this problem with other people. Try to talk about it with your friends, with your family. Because as long as you talk about this, as long as you talk and keep it as keep the conversation going about the microplastics or any other problem that you concerned with, there will be some action as well. So the governments will know that people are talking about that and we should try and do something. But of course we need to even go more if possible, like sign petitions, demand changes from the government, vote for those people who have environment in their minds. This is very important because our part of it is very important. But the part of our governments and regulations is as important and we need those regulation as soon as possible. Because right now, as I say, there are no regulations. We can discharge like trillions microplastics literally. And that's how it is right now. Like for example, in our in Astana in Kazakhstan where I did my research, we found out that there's like a billion microplastics per day is discharged directly into the water. And I feel like it's more or less the same, if not even more in other countries. So yeah, of course, try and do your individual action. Try to speak about that and take some action.

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Hey, audiobook lovers. This week on the podcast I'm sitting down with musician, producer and walking encyclopedia Questlove, we're talking about Mark Ronson's memoir Night People how to be a DJ in 90s New York City. All right, like we talked about before, Mark Ronson found sanctuary in the DJ booth. What's a tool or piece of equipment in the studio or on stage that gives you the most control? So I have two microphones on stage. We have the microphone that you hear as the audience. Then we have a second microphone in which we communicate with each other. I feel like that second microphone kind of saved all of our friendships. No, no band likes each other after 20 years or 25 years. Like the Beatles broke up in seven and a half years and we're going on 35. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts. And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

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Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

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Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings.

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[D]

And I know you can't predict, I'm like in shock right now by this. Just this. I'm just gonna call it a little monster because that's the only thing that's gonna make it make sense in my brain. But of course you can't predict what's going to come. But if we continue this trajectory and we continue with where we're at with consumption, with how much microplastic is in everything, I mean, what are we looking at in the grand scale of things when we look five, ten years down the road when it comes to this.

[A]

Particular topic, as you said, it's difficult to say honestly, because again, the microplastic research is still very, very new. We, I think we, we did have only seven articles about microplastics before 2014. And yeah, all the other articles are only coming up right now.

[D]

And you've. How long has microplastics even been studied? Put it into those terms for me because I know you said you've been studying it for a little bit, but in general, the topic, when did it even kind of become a thing that people could start studying?

[A]

So the term microplastic was first coined in 2004. So it's still in like the first.

[D]

Few decades of this.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that's how it is. Yeah. Microplastics is still in its infancy as a research field. And yeah, it's difficult to say for me and I don't want to be super depressing about the topic because I try to make people like empowered. You still can do something. But one of the interesting things I can mention, for example, there is some new research suggesting that microplastics are affecting photosynthesis of plants and plants growth in general. So for Example, they're reducing the rate of photosynthesis. And, you know, no photosynthesis means practically no yield. And right now the reduction of photosynthesis caused just by microplastics, not even including the climate change or any other factors, but just microplastics, is around 7 to 13%, if I remember correctly. And yeah, I mean, I'm just like.

[D]

Shocked over here because we need photosynthesis to breathe. That's important.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. And unfortunately, microplastic is not only about, like, some fish that is dying in the ocean, which is also very tragic, but it's also about, like, our very food and air. And right now they're saying that it could be a threat to our food security because we could probably lose. I don't remember all the figures right now, but I think it was 130 metric tons of food per year could be lost just because of microplastics in terms of crop production. And that's a huge number. And that's what they estimate that we are losing right now already just because of microplastics. But from the bright side, and if we continue doing that, of course this number is going to only grow bigger and bigger and we already in like, shaky situation when it comes to food security. Right.

[D]

And, yeah, well, and I don't want to make you talk about depressing things, but I also know that sometimes when we can really see a bigger picture and we can be like, okay, give me what's actually happening. Some people can feel more empowered that way to say, okay, what I am as one single person does matter and I will change that footprint because it, in the bigger picture, it is going to matter one day. So hopefully, at least the hard conversations and the negativity around that idea of this can bring some positivity, is the hope.

[A]

Yeah. But there's also a positive side on that research because they, they estimated that we, like, need to reduce only 13% of our plastic waste in order to, you know, negate the effect of microplastics. And I think 13% is quite doable. And if you think about it, maybe you can even try do that in your life. Just try reducing your plastic use by 13%. I think it wouldn't be a very big change that you do, but in the grand scheme of things, it could mean something and it's a great start.

[D]

Well, and very much so. If one person does it, like say I do it and then I tell all my friends, like, hey, just maybe scale it back just a half a bit and you get A group of us, and then it just keeps spiraling from there. It's a very grassroots idea of it, but that's how this works, and that's how we start to come together as a community to make a change. So to your point, yeah, 13% seems like a lot in that big picture, but it really isn't. If one person starts to do it and we kind of create that domino effect, the monster can be reversed, but we must help it.

[A]

Exactly. I agree with you. And I think people always underestimate themselves because, for example, when I became a microplastic researcher, all my friends were started to get, you know, more cautious when they talk about plastic. And they're like, okay, for example, if we go somewhere, they try to use less plastic just because of me. Just. I'm not even saying anything to them, but they're like, I'm not gonna take this plastic back. I know you're. You're gonna judge me. And, yeah, I'm never judging any of them, but they still do feel like this obligation to not use, and this is already an impact, you know, so this is great.

[D]

Well, and that's how it works, right? Even if you're just scaring them a little bit to not use it, like, you don't even have to say anything. It's just like a little bit of a fear. Then sometimes we need that push just to make sure that we're heading in the right direction. So not only is it better for your body to be not utilizing a lot of these plastics, but it's also better for the environment. So to me, that's a win win. And you can go to, you know, here, I'm not sure what they're called where you're at right now, but we have like dollar stores, and they have plastic or not plastic. They have glassware that you can easily buy and make it a quick swap in your home so you're no longer using plastic. And that's. That's, you know, a big fix. But so on that same topic, though, so say people start making that swap and doing things, how do we recycle these things? And how do we get rid of them without adding more to the problem?

[A]

That's a very good question. A very. Yeah, a very good question. When it comes to all the plastic that we already have, like, what to do with those? And it all depends on your creativity. I would say if there are some people that you can recycle, recycle them. But if you can then reuse them, it's even better. Especially when it's something that is not. Not so. For example, you probably swap out things from the kitchen because that's the thing you start with. And you try and use those things that you swapped in the areas that are not considered. Not related to your food, you know, to kitchen. I don't know if I'm explaining it in a understandable way. Ye. No, I get what you mean.

[D]

Like, you start to use it. Like, use those cups maybe that are plastic for to hold pencils or they hold your makeup brushes or something that's not being used that you're technically putting into your body.

[A]

Yeah, that's right. And for example, I had a plastic cup. I also. It was a very long plastic cup. I started to use this as a waste for my flowers, for example. I know that there are some people who are using their old cutting boards to put it under the pots. You know, for example, all the old plastic clothing that you had, you can try and do something out of them, like make a little project or for example, donate it to animal shelters, for example, or anything. I think it all depends on your creativity. But I would. Yeah, try and encourage people to try to reuse those things because, okay, this plastic already exists in the system. Like, it will not create microplastics just because you get rid of it. So maybe try to reuse it in some way that is possible. Just try to remove it from your foot, from your mouth, you know.

[D]

Yes, well, and that. I was like, starting to think of that. I was like, oh, no. Well, I don't want to encourage everybody to just then throw everything away, because that's also part of the problem. So it's such a delicate balance. But I think it's one. If we're really intentional about that, we can make a difference and we can start to change, even if it's a small thing. It can start with cups and then it can go to pans, and you can always just maneuver and find ways to do things. I know me personally, I've been getting really creative with trying to swap things out and find ways to donate them in different directions. I have donated a lot of stuff to animal shelters that I never knew they would need, pillows being one of them, because I was like, I need different, healthier pillows. I was like, but I don't want to throw these away. So animal shelters. So there are ways to do it, but I just wanted to make sure we gave him all the educational resources to do so.

[A]

Yeah, that's great. Yeah.

[D]

And I, I love to end my podcast on it's Either a piece of advice or motivation or inspiration or maybe something we didn't even address yet. And you feel like really empowered. You want to talk about it? I kind of give the floor over to you. So anything that comes to mind for you. This is totally yours. Floor is yours.

[A]

Yeah. I would like to end it on like an empowering note. There, there is. I have met a man who is working on finding a solution to microplastic problem and I really like what he said to me. He told me like we are at the very historical point in our lifetime, in the history in general, where we catch the problem way before, before that spiraled and it's now no longer, you know, solvable. Like for example, with climate change, we realized that climate change is doing is climate change exists in general way after. Not, I wouldn't say too late, but quite late. Right. Because right now there's a lot of difficulties, a lot of challenges in order to tackle that. But with microplastics right now, it's the point where we learned about the problem when it's still only now started to affect the environment and our health. Right. So we do. And at the same time we have all the technology, technology and all the people that are working in science. So many people are now joining the science. So we do have all the capabilities, all the opportunities right now to solve this problem. If you think, I know it's very depressing. The field is very depressing. The environmental science itself is just a science of studying problems which is quite. Yeah, I know it's very sad and can be very anxious about that. But with microplastics I really do have a lot of hope and I really agree with that guy that we do have all the technological advancement and a lot of amazing people working in order to solve that problem. And definitely if we keep talking about that, if we do our part, if we take action, we definitely going to solve it together.

[D]

I love that you said that and I love that's how we're ending it, because it is. And that's why I even found you on social media to begin with was not only were you educating people on the topic, but you were trying to educate in a way that will help us, not just make us scared and say, okay, well don't do this. It's like, don't do this. But this is why you shouldn't and this is why it can help us. So I love what you're doing, I love your social media content. So do you want to shout that out really quick so people can go Follow you?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, follow me on Instagram and on TikTok. My handle is Dankaje. I think it would be difficult for you.

[D]

I'll put it in the show notes, notes too so they can find it that way.

[A]

And maybe a quick shout out to my app. So we created an app, Microplastic Free. It's an app where there are a lot of educational lessons that I've wrote myself with the help of other microplastic researcher about what are microplastics? The environmental impact, the human health impact of microplastics. And there's also a scanner with which you can take pictures of food packaging, of clothing, tags of personal care ingredients and get an instant microplastic risk score. Is it high or is it low? There's also a new feature that we added, petition section. So you can literally sign the petitions about microplastics in the app itself. We did that in collaborations with several organizations. We will have even more petitions there soon. And another new feature that we adding, I hope maybe in this December, but maybe in the next year, a trusted brands section where you can see all the companies, all the brands that do produce plastic free products. This idea actually came from our own users because they were taking pictures. They see, okay, this is plastic, but what can I do? What should I buy instead? And we're like, okay, that's a great idea. Maybe we can add brands or companies for them so they know where to shop instead. So yeah, please download that. It will be of great help for me and for our planet as well.

[D]

Yeah, I love that. I'm so glad you shouted that out because it's so cool1 what you're doing, but also that you guys created an app to again help more people. And like we mentioned, the swap part is what's hard. It's hard to find things and know what you're doing is right. So to have an app that's right at your fingertips to say, hey, is this good for me or not? Or is this good for the environment? And then another option for something that can be. So shout that out one more time. I will still link it in the notes so nobody has to write it down or anything.

[A]

So it's microplastic Free scanner or you can just write microplastic free.

[D]

That's perfect. Well, it's so cool what you're doing and I hope it just continues to. I hope we continue to do better. I hope your job continues to hopefully get easier. Would be the hope, I would hope out of doing that research that maybe one day you can search for a new subject because we did all the right things and we got rid of it. But all that to say thank you for the work that you're doing and thanks for the information and sharing on social media, because it's how I found you and I'm really glad that I did to share with my listeners.

[A]

Yeah, thank you so much for reaching out. I really like talking about microplastics.

[D]

I love that. I love when somebody gets to geek out on things they love too, because when there's so much information around it, we, you know, we see the Internet and there's so much that we see, but you know, you see influencers all the time talking about microplastics. And I'm like, okay, but how do you know that? And who are you? So I saw you and I was like, well, she's actually doing the research, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk to her about this. Yeah, well, thank you again. And I will make sure to link everything in the show notes for everybody so you guys can follow her and. And get that app so we can all do a little bit better by ourselves and for the earth.

[A]

Thank you.

[D]

I know episodes like these are sometimes hard to take. You may feel helpless, confused, or like you're in over your head. And trust me, I've been there. I do these episodes as a way to inform because there's so much noise happening on social media and the way to cut through that is with evidence based facts and research. So if this is your first toe tip in understanding the world of microplastics, much like me, you're doing great. We're gonna figure this out. Donna is a great source of information on this topic, so be sure to follow her on social media and download that app she was talking about. We can do this, guys.

[E]

Stay calm.

[D]

Deep breath. I'm so happy that you're here. Get ready next week to learn all the things I've been doing in the world of detox and cleanses with Kara. Subscribe away. Bye, friends.

[B]

Hey, audiobook lovers. I'm Cal Penn. I'm Ed Helms. Ed and I are inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with our new podcast, Irsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Each week we sit down with your favorite iHeart podcast hosts and some very special guests to discuss the latest and greatest audiobooks from Audible. Listen to Hearsay on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow earsay and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today. Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming, but I'm tackling this season with PayPal and making the most of my money. Getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4. No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most of your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the app ends 1231. See paypal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more. Paying for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457 what a matchup we got, y'.

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All.

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This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Asheville fans, school colors everywhere and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

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Amazon Five Star Theater presents real customer.

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Reviews performed by a real serious improv podcaster.

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Tonight's review, Spatula for the Stars. When I'm dead and civilization eventually collapses, this spatula will remain. It will be the only rune uncovered by some unknown species of the future upon which they base their assumptions of our existence. Eggs they reposit.

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These extinct people like to eat their.

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Eggs and this was their primary tool for cooking them.

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Let us teleport and put this device.

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In the Milky Way exhibit.

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5 stars Zachary. Find your perfect gift this holiday on Amazon.

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This is an Iheart podcast.