Scientists may be overestimating the amount of microplastics in the environment – and the culprit is lab gloves

Gloves used in the laboratory that led to microplastic overestimation. Madeline Clough

It seems like every day a new study finds tiny plastic particles called microplastics where they should not be: in our bodies and our food, water and air.

Yet finding and identifying microplastics is extremely challenging, especially given their small size. One microplastic can range from as large as a ladybug to as small as an eighth of a red blood cell.