Researchers from The University of Western Australia have designed a tool to measure dietary exposure to plastic products.

The study, co-authored by Dr Amelia Harray and Professor Michaela Lucas from UWA’s Medical School, was published in Frontiers in Nutrition.

“Plastic-associated chemicals can be ingested, inhaled and absorbed into human bodies, and have been linked to cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and other health conditions,” Professor Lucas said.

“Diet has been identified as a major source of plastic exposure and the chemicals associated with plastics are commonly found in food packaging, processing and preparation materials.”

The ‘24-h Dietary Recall – Plastic Exposure’ tool collects detailed information on food volumes, packaging, storage and cooking methods to measure dietary exposure to plastics.

The tool incorporates predefined criteria for identifying high-risk practices and food characteristics, such as individually packaged items or those microwaved in plastic, enabling the assignment of scores based on a theoretically derived dietary plastics scoring matrix.

“This tool is the first specifically designed to capture detailed data on dietary exposures to plastic products,” Dr Harray said.

“The next step is to validate the data against the presence of plastic-associated chemicals in urine samples obtained during the same 24-hour period.”

The tool has been used on healthy adults in the Plastic Exposure Reduction Transforms Health (PERTH) Trial, which is looking at whether reducing plastic exposure can improve cardiovascular and metabolic health.

“This method creates avenues for population monitoring, guiding interventions, and deepening our understanding of the health impacts of plastics in the food we eat,” Professor Lucas said.

“The data could be used to inform policy changes aimed at reducing plastic use for health and environmental reasons.”