Science & Technology

Microplastics crisis: could gloves be contaminating the findings?

By T.K. Randall
March 31, 2026 ·  0 comments

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) One of the biggest environmental concerns raised in recent years is the sheer extent of microplastic contamination in our oceans, in our water supply, in our food and pretty much everywhere else.

Scientists have been proposing that when these microplastics get into our bodies, they can cause various health problems and may increase our risk of cancer and other diseases.

Now, though, a new study has somewhat thrown a spanner in the works by highlighting what seems to be a fundamental flaw common to a large percentage of studies into microplastics.

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, the laboratory gloves used during the majority of these studies may themselves be covered in microplastics that can contaminate the samples to the tune of 2,000 false positive signals per square millimeter.

This means that the findings of these studies may suggest much higher levels than are actually there."The type of contact we tried to mimic touches upon all varieties of microplastics research," said study lead author Madeline Clough.

"If you are contacting a sample with a gloved hand, you're likely imparting these stearates that could overestimate your results."

That said, this doesn't mean that there are no microplastics at all in the samples.

"We may be overestimating microplastics, but there should be none," said study co-author Anne McNeil.

"There's still a lot out there, and that's the problem."

Source: Science Daily | Comments (0)

Tags: Microplastics