Microplastics have turned up in human blood, organs, and even the plaque inside our arteries. Here’s what the research actually shows about the link to heart disease, and what it doesn’t.
Key Takeaways
- A 2024 NEJM study found microplastics in the artery plaque of 58% of patients. Those with plastic present had a 4.5x higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.
- A 2025 Nature Medicine study found microplastics in multiple major organs, including brain, liver, and kidney tissue, with concentrations in the brain 7 to 30 times higher than in the liver and kidneys.
- The findings are statistically significant, but the research is observational, meaning it shows association rather than direct causation.
Most of us think about plastic in terms of its toll on the planet, from entangled wildlife to polluted soil and waterways. But research is now finding it closer to home. Peer-reviewed studies have identified microplastics in human blood, tissue, and organs, and they’re beginning to connect that presence to serious health consequences, including cardiovascular disease.
Below, we look at how microplastics get into the body, what they may do once they’re there, and what you can do about it.
Why are there microplastics in the body?
Plastic is cheap and durable, which is exactly why it ends up in so many consumer products, and why traces of it now turn up in the air, in your food, and in your morning coffee. It typically enters the body through what you eat, drink, and breathe. Once inside, these particles can migrate between cells and accumulate in organs and tissues.
That raises two questions: where do they end up, and what do they do once they arrive?
Where microplastics are found
Getting in is one thing, but staying in is another. Once particles are inside cells, they can be surprisingly persistent. A 2024 laboratory study in Chemosphere, working with cultured human cells, found that microplastics were passed along to newly formed cells during cell division rather than being cleared out. That helps explain how, over time, particles can build up in tissue instead of simply passing through.
A 2025 study from researchers at the University of New Mexico went further, analyzing brain, liver, and kidney tissue from autopsies conducted between 2016 and 2024. Microplastics and nanoplastics showed up in all three organs, and the brain stood out: concentrations there ran 7 to 30 times higher than in the liver and kidneys.
What happens when plastic enters the body
So are microplastics actually harmful to humans? Once in the bloodstream, microplastics and nanoplastics have been shown to trigger oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and inflammation.
What those processes mean for long-term health in humans is still being worked out. Microplastics have been found to accumulate in brain tissue, which has prompted researchers to ask whether they could play a role in neurological conditions. However, as of now, no causal link has been established, and claims tying them to specific diseases run ahead of the current evidence.
A study on microplastics and cardiovascular disease
The clearest signal so far that this reaches the heart comes from a single landmark study. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it followed 257 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, a procedure that removes plaque from the arteries in the neck to restore normal blood flow and lower stroke risk.
The study's key findings
When researchers analyzed the removed plaque, 58.4% of patient samples contained polyethylene, a common plastic found in food containers, grocery bags, and single-use coffee pods.
Over the following 34 months, patients with microplastics in their artery plaque were 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or death. Those same patients also showed higher levels of inflammation, hinting that plastic particles may provoke an immune response.
Patients with microplastics in artery plaque were 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or death over the following 34 months. — Marfella et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2024
What the study doesn’t tell us
This study represents an important step in understanding microplastics and heart disease, but the researchers were careful to flag what it can and can’t show:
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It’s observational, so it points to an association between microplastics and cardiovascular risk rather than proof of direct causation.
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The sample is specific to patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, so it may not represent the general population.
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Laboratory contamination can’t be fully ruled out, and the authors note that future work may benefit from plastic-free, controlled environments.
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Socioeconomic data wasn’t available, so the team couldn’t control for income, education, environmental exposure, and other lifestyle factors.
What this means for your daily coffee consumption
You eat and drink every day, your morning coffee included, so there are plenty of openings for microplastics to make their way in. And because cells struggle to clear these particles once they’re inside, they can accumulate over time and contribute to adverse health effects.
That doesn’t mean you should give up coffee. It’s one of the largest sources of antioxidants in many people’s diets, and regular consumption is associated in observational research with a lower risk of several chronic conditions.
The goal is simply to keep the upside while reducing the plastic that comes with it. So how do you do that?
Steps you can take
Start with what touches your drink. Switching to a stainless steel, ceramic, or glass mug and storing your beans in plastic-free containers are easy first moves, and skipping plastic stirrers, lids, and straws adds up over time.
Then rethink how you brew. Most traditional coffee machines contain plastic components, which means your coffee meets plastic somewhere in the process. A plastic-free machine made from materials like stainless steel or glass removes that contact point entirely.
What does this mean?
The picture coming together is hard to ignore.
One study identified microplastics across multiple major organs, including the brain, liver, and kidneys.
Another found them in the artery plaque of 58.4% of patients examined, with those patients 4.5 times more likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or death within 34 months. Even with a sample limited to people with carotid artery disease, the findings suggest microplastics are more present in the body than previously believed.
A 2025 systematic review backs up the mechanism, confirming that microplastics in the body can drive inflammation, oxidative stress, and endocrine disruption. Those responses can wear on your health over time. The encouraging part is that paying attention to the materials in your daily routine is a genuine lever for reducing exposure.
That’s where Trevara comes in. Trevara is built around the two contact points this research keeps returning to, the beans and the brewer, with plastic-free packaging and brew machines designed to keep plastic out of your cup from the very first step.
Explore plastic-free coffee at Trevara.
Article sources
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Marfella R, Prattichizzo F, Sardu C, Fulgenzi G, Graciotti L, Spadoni T, et al. Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2024;390(10):900-910. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2309822
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Nihart AJ, Garcia MA, El Hayek E, Liu R, Olewine M, Kingston JD, et al. Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains. Nat Med. 2025;31(4):1114-1119. doi:10.1038/s41591-024-03453-1
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Brynzak-Schreiber E, Schögl E, Bapp C, Cseh K, Kopatz V, Jakupec MA, et al. Microplastics role in cell migration and distribution during cancer cell division. Chemosphere. 2024;353:141463. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141463
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Ririe AK, Fatema N, Dina TJ, et al. Impact of microplastic exposure on human health: a systematic review of mechanisms, biomarkers, and clinical outcomes. Cureus. 2025;17(12):e100295. doi:10.7759/cureus.100295
