This Startup Says It Can Clean Your Blood of Microplastics

But the 2024 study didn’t establish any causal link between microplastics and health. The study was only observational, so it couldn’t prove that the presence of microplastics caused the higher risk of death for certain patients. There were also differences between the two groups studied—patients with microplastics in their arteries were more likely to be men, have cardiovascular disease, and smoke. It could be that these factors—or another unknown influence—were actually causing the difference in risk of death between the two groups.

The same uncertainties apply when it comes to measuring microplastics. I wasn’t particularly scientific when I milked that blood from my fingertip. Plastic fibers from my clothing or packaging could easily have made their way into my sample, and the same is true when any sample is analyzed, whether it’s from the environment or a human body. Béen and his colleagues go to extreme lengths to try to avoid contamination when they’re analyzing blood samples for microplastics. All of the equipment they use to take samples is plastic-free, the air in their lab is filtered, and they only wear cotton when working with the samples. “What we do is to make sure there is no plastic contamination, or to minimize it as much as possible given that microplastics are everywhere.”

We live in such a plastic-saturated world that it’s difficult to measure microplastics accurately, let alone link them to health outcomes. But Cohen says that her patients report higher energy levels or better sleep after trying the treatment. Cohen tracks her sleep quality on an Oura ring and says that before the treatment a score of 70 would be good for her, but in the six weeks after she tried the treatment she hadn’t dropped below 90—which, according to the Oura website, indicates “optimal” sleep.

Most of the patients come to the clinic through word of mouth. “People are posting it, they’re talking about it,” Cohen says. Patients post their blood microplastic results online before and after the treatment. “I think it’s a badge of honor to be doing your future self a favor,” she says.

Blood microplastic cleansing is just the latest in a long line of treatments based on uncertain evidence targeting wealthy individuals worried about their health. In the Bahamas, people pay tens of thousands of dollars for stem cell injections of unproven benefit. Longevity influencer Bryan Johnson has touted the benefits of total plasma exchange—removing plasma from the blood and supplementing it with proteins and antibodies on a regular basis.

“He’s a big platform, and he is spending a lot of time and energy finding the things that move the needle the most,” says Cohen.

In extreme cases of exposure to pollutants, some form of blood cleaning can be necessary. Earlier this year, residents of Jersey, an island in the English Channel, were recommended bloodletting after firefighting foams containing PFAS polluted drinking water supplies. High levels of PFAS exposure have been linked to some cancers and issues with brain development and thyroid function. Bloodletting would clean the blood over time by removing contaminated blood and allowing the body to replenish the blood naturally.

But for most people we simply don’t know what their blood microplastics levels are, or whether they are anything to worry about. My fingerprick test found around 190 microplastic particles per milliliter of blood, a result which apparently put me at the low end of the range of possible results. I emailed Cohen to tell her I was pleased with my results. “Glad you were pleasantly surprised, but that’s still around a million particles in your circulatory system!” she responded.