Microplastics

When reaching for a plastic water bottle or heating a quick meal, few consider what might be left behind long after the convenience has passed. While the environmental toll of plastic pollution is widely recognized, a startling new wave of scientific research has turned the focus inward, uncovering an unsettling reality about human anatomy. Microscopic …

Mia Heller was not looking for a science fair project when she picked up her local newspaper a few years ago. She was just a teenager in Warrenton, Virginia, scanning headlines over breakfast. But one article stopped her cold. It reported that her neighborhood’s tap water was contaminated with PFAS chemicals and microplastic pollution, and …