27 Million Metric Tons of Nanoplastics in the North Atlantic

Here’s something to ponder. Floating in the North Atlantic, there are more metric tons of nanoplastics than the combined mass of all mammals living on dry land. That’s a lot. This observation comes from a recent study in the journal Nature.

Unfortunately, we cannot be certain of the impact of this ubiquitous pollution on human health because the research on this question is new and our exposure to these particles is one big uncontrolled experiment. What we do know is not especially reassuring.

The First Real Estimate Ever

Until now, we have been dumping ever more plastics into the environment without really accounting for where it goes. Very little (only about 9%) gets recycled. The rest goes to landfills, incineration, and into the oceans. But until now, scientists had been unable to account for all of the plastic we’ve been dumping into the environment. It turns out that much of that disappearing plastic is floating in the ocean in the invisible form of nanoplastics.

A Neglected Risk to Metabolic Health

The implication of this finding is to emphasize the importance of these ubiquitous particles on human health. We know that nanoplastics can be carriers for a wide range of endocrine disrupting chemicals. These include bisphenol A, phthalates, and PFAS. We don’t have RCTs to prove the causal role of these chemicals in the rise of obesity, not least because these chemicals are not safe. But we are swimming in them, breathing them, and these nanoparticles are penetrating our bodies.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association tells us that microplastic levels in the ocean correlate significantly with cardiometabolic disease prevalence in nearby coastal communities. This includes type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke. They’re more prevalent in areas with high levels than in those with low levels.

Yet another study identifies a link between PFAS (forever chemicals), type 2 diabetes, and metabolic dysregulation. More research is definitely warranted to better quantify these risks.

Obesity Is About More Than Food

We are comfortable with focusing blame mostly on the food industry for the rise in obesity over the last four decades. We should be looking more broadly.  The chemicals we involuntarily eat, drink, breathe, and absorb seem likely to be playing a role we should not neglect.

Click here for the study of nanoplastics in the North Atlantic and here for free access to reporting in the New York Times on it. For further perspective on the emerging threat of environmental microplastics, this new review is helpful.

Deep Blue Sea, painting by John French Sloan / WikiArt

Subscribe by email to follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health, obesity, and policy.

August 11, 2025