The Plastic Exposure Reduction Transforms Health

The PERTH Trial  

Are you curious about your exposure to plastic chemicals? 

Do you live in a bigger body?

Could reducing exposure to plastics transform your health?

Researchers from The University of Western Australia are now recruiting participants living in bigger bodies to investigate whether reducing exposure to plastics could improve cardiovascular and metabolic health.  

Can you help the PERTH Trial?

If you’re aged between 18 and 60 years, live in a bigger body (BMI ≥ 30kg/m2) and reside in the Perth Metropolitan area, you may be eligible to participate in the study..

Click HERE to register

water bottle

We invite you to help us learn more about plastic chemicals. This involves attending an initial 2-hour visit to the Harry Perkins Institute in Nedlands. During the visit you will receive:

  • a thorough health assessment by a study doctor
  • a body composition analysis
  • results from blood tests, including cholesterol levels

This is followed by a 2-hour video call with a dietitian.

 

About the PERTH Trial

Reducing our exposure to plastics could transform our health. Australians are exposed to chemicals found in plastics every day, often without noticing. They can be found in the products we put on our skin, the clothing we wear, the air we breathe and the food we eat and more, but not enough is known about the impacts on health.

Professor Michaela Lucas from The University of Western Australia is leading this research trial investigating exposure to plastic chemicals in adults in Perth, Western Australia.

Do we know if plastic chemicals are a threat to human health?

Rising rates of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions coincide with increasing use of plastic-associated chemicals like BPA and phthalates in our environment and everyday lives.

These chemicals are considered hazardous because they disrupt our hormone system and so are called ‘endocrine disrupters’ but research in this field is limited.

We need high quality research in Australia!

Our approach

Firstly, we need to find the common sources of exposure to plastic chemicals in Western Australia, and examine how much of these chemicals we consume, process, and eventually excrete from our bodies.

Once we understand how much we are exposed to, the next step is to avoid the known sources of these plastic chemicals and see if there is a reduction of plastic chemicals in our urine and stool.

Finally, blood tests taken during the study will help identify any markers of inflammation associated with plastic chemicals that can cause chronic diseases.

Trial objectives

To detect the levels of plastic chemicals in the body

To identify possible sources of exposure to plastic chemicals in the Perth population

To investigate if reducing exposure to plastic chemicals results in decreased excretion from the body

To determine whether reducing exposure to plastic chemicals improves cardiometabolic health

Frequently asked questions

Am I eligible to participate in the trial?

If you are aged between 18 and 60 years old, live in a bigger body BMI ≥30kg/m2; waist circumference ≥102cm in men and ≥88cm in women) and reside in the Perth Metropolitan area you may be eligible. We encourage you to complete the expression of interest form by clicking on the link above. An email will then be sent to you to complete a few pre-screening questions to confirm your suitability for health screening followed by the study information sheet.

If I choose participate in the trial, what activities will I be involved in?
  • You will attend up to four appointments lasting about 2 hours at the Harry Perkins Institute on the QEII Campus and one telephone appointment over a period of seven weeks.
  • At the first appointment, the study doctor will discuss what the study involves and you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have before proceeding with a thorough health check-up.
  • If you are suitable to continue to the next stage of the study, you will be given a request form to take to your local pathology clinic the next morning to have a fasting blood test to check your general health.
  • A video appointment will be scheduled one week after your first visit to confirm your eligibility and whether you would like to take part in the study.
  • You will be ask to self-collect urine, stool and nasal rinse samples at home on seven different occasions throughout the trial.
  • At the clinic appointments, you will have blood tests, complete some questionnaires, and participate in an interview with a qualified dietitian
  • At the end of the study we will send you a participant satisfaction survey to complete. 

That’s it!

What are the study assessments?

On-line questionnaires will ask you about potential exposure to plastic chemicals through diet, lifestyle, and occupation.

A qualified dietitian will interview you about your diet and food preparation practices.

You will be asked to self-collect urine, stool, and nasal washing samples at home using the kits we provide you.

We will take blood samples to measure markers of inflammation, and to assess markers if your cardiometabolic health.

Will I have access to my individual results?

We will provide you with a hard copy of results of your health screening blood tests at your second visit.

You will not receive results of the research tests individually because it is not known what the clinical importance of the results are to individuals until they have been analysed within a larger group of people.

The results of the study will be in the public domain and information on how to access the reports and manuscripts will be posted on the study website.

How do I get to my booked clinic appointment?

We are located at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research on the QEII Campus at 6 Verdun Street, Nedlands WA 6009. There is paid public parking available on site and the Institute is easy to get to with public transport.

Travel and parking instructions for participants

I don’t live within the Perth Metro region, am I still able to participate?

At this stage, the study is confined to the Metropolitan area and surrounds.

Who is funding the trial?

The Minderoo Foundation has awarded a research grant to the University of Western Australia.

Find out more about the Foundation's Plastics initiative and human health focus.

Is there any reimbursement for my time and travel costs?

You will receive $20 to cover the cost of parking at each visit to clinic. You will be given a $50 gift voucher after the video appointment, even if you are not eligible to move onto the next stage of the study.

If you are recruited into the intervention, you will receive a $50.00 gift voucher when you attend the clinic at Visit 2 and Visit 3. This will be followed by a $300 gift voucher at the final visit to thank you for your participation.

All participants will be offered a free consultation with an Accredited Practicing Dietitian at the end of the trial in addition to the reimbursement.

How long does the trial last?

Your participation in the trial will be over a period of seven weeks. 

Further reading

Learn more

Email us at [email protected] or contact a member of the clinical research team:

Alex (Clinical Trial Coordinator)
M: 0403 262 229

We are located at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands WA 6009

Parking information
Travel and Parking Instructions [PDF, 197KB]

The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee has approved this study (Approval ID: 2021/ET001118)

Michaela Lucs

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