Study finds microplastics in powdered infant formula

New research shows for the first time that powdered baby formula contains significant levels of microplastics, especially when packaged in boxes.

“Milk powder is a substantial component of an infant’s diet,” said Qiji Zhang, a chemist at Nanjing University in China, while presenting his research Friday at the American Geophysical Union’s annual conference in Chicago. “The task of understanding the threat to infants, one of the most vulnerable groups, is … urgent.”

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Zhang’s team tested 13 varieties of baby formula powder stored in different types of containers for the presence of microplastics. They used a chemical process to simulate the digestion of milk powder by infants. Once the milk and other food ingredients dissolved, the plastic was all that remained. 

Their analysis found that in 100 grams of infant formula, enough for about five 7-ounce bottles, there was anywhere from 13 to 114 bits of plastic pollution. Zhang calculated that this means infants who regularly drink such formula might ingest anywhere from 3,475 to 5,797 ultra-tiny plastic pieces annually.

An analysis of the microplastics revealed they likely came from the formula boxes, which are often lined with polyethylene plastic and aluminum foil. Zhang and his colleagues also found that the process of mixing formula produces microplastic contamination in the beverage, perhaps because the preparer’s clothing was shedding microplastics or because microplastics are in the air. 

Some researchers believe consuming microplastics could be harmful to humans, potentially causing intestinal inflammation, neurotoxicity and immune-system stress. 

Despite his findings, Zhang said the levels of microplastics that leaches from polyethylene bottles while babies feed is much higher than what he and his colleagues found in the powdered formula. For instance, a 2020 study in Nature Food found that babies fed from polyethylene bottles consumed between 14,600 to 4.5 million particles per day.

He said parents can reduce the level of microplastics their babies are exposed to by using glass bottles and brewing the milk powder carefully to avoid plastics from clothing and the air.

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