Commentary: Microplastics are getting into our bodies. We need to understand what that means

Nobody wants to snack on plastic bags or soda rings, but according to a 2019 study from the University of Newcastle, we could be consuming roughly a credit card's worth of plastic every week.

Microplastics, which are less than a quarter-inch in size and come in various shapes and textures, have contaminated the natural world and infiltrated our bodies. These particles are just about everywhere on Earth, including in drinking water and the air we breathe, but until recently we didn't know how ubiquitous they really were.

Microplastics were first