By Fred Himmelstein, MD

For most of my career in medicine, when we talked about plastic, we weren’t particularly worried about it getting into our bodies.

Plastic was the container. It held our water, wrapped our food, packaged our medications and cosmetics, and made thousands of conveniences of modern life possible.

We are now learning that the story may be more complicated.

Tiny pieces of plastic—called microplastics and nanoplastics—have become so widespread in our environment that researchers have found them in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and, increasingly, within the human body itself.

And that raises an interesting question for those of us interested in healthy aging and aesthetics:

Could plastics also be affecting our skin and the collagen that keeps it healthy and youthful?

The answer at this point is: possibly—but there is still a great deal we don’t know.

And that makes this a subject worth discussing without either ignoring it or sensationalizing it.

First, What Are Microplastics?

Microplastics are simply very small pieces of plastic—less than 5 millimeters in size. Some are manufactured small, while many others are created when larger plastic objects gradually break apart.

Even smaller particles are called nanoplastics. These are so tiny that they behave differently from the pieces of plastic we normally imagine. Some are small enough to interact with cells and biological tissues.

Our exposure comes from many sources.

Plastic food and beverage containers can shed particles. Synthetic clothing releases microscopic fibers. Household dust can contain plastic particles. Tire wear contributes plastic-containing particles to the environment. Plastic packaging and other products slowly break down.

Microplastics have now been detected in multiple human tissues and organs. Researchers are still working out exactly how much gets into us, where it goes, how long it stays and—most importantly—whether the amounts we encounter in everyday life actually cause disease.

That last question is critical.

Finding something in the body does not automatically mean that it is causing harm.

But once we know it is there, it is reasonable to ask what it might be doing.

What About the Skin?

Our skin is actually very good at its job.

Its outer layer is designed to keep unwanted substances out while keeping water and other important components in. Larger microplastic particles are unlikely to simply pass through healthy, intact skin.

The very smallest particles are more interesting.

Laboratory research suggests that extremely small plastic particles may penetrate more deeply, particularly through hair follicles or when the skin barrier has been damaged. Recent dermatology research has therefore begun looking seriously at what happens when these particles encounter the cells that make up our skin.

Some of the results have caught my attention as an aesthetic physician.

And the reason is collagen.

Could Microplastics Affect Collagen?

Collagen is one of the major structural proteins in our skin. Think of it as part of the supporting framework that gives youthful skin its thickness, strength and resilience.

Unfortunately, we don’t keep making collagen at the same rate forever.

As we age, the cells responsible for maintaining collagen—called fibroblasts—become less efficient. Sun exposure accelerates the process. Smoking does too. Pollution, inflammation and oxidative damage can also contribute.

Over time, we produce less high-quality collagen while breaking down more of the collagen we already have. The visible results include thinner skin, wrinkles and laxity.

This is where microplastic research becomes particularly intriguing.

A 2025 laboratory study exposed skin tissue and skin cells to polystyrene microplastics. The researchers found that the particles interfered with the normal function of fibroblasts—the cells responsible for producing and maintaining much of the skin’s collagen framework.

The fibroblasts began behaving more like old, worn-out cells.

Scientists call this process cellular senescence, but “prematurely aged cells” is probably a better description for most of us.

More importantly, the researchers found reduced activity of two genes involved in making type I collagen, the predominant collagen in our skin.

Other laboratory research using human skin fibroblasts has also shown changes in the cellular machinery responsible for maintaining the supportive structure around our skin cells.

Does that mean microplastics are causing your wrinkles?

We don’t know.

These are laboratory findings. They do not prove that the amount of microplastic exposure you and I encounter during normal life is destroying the collagen in our faces.

But they do provide a biologically reasonable reason to continue investigating the question.

There May Be Another Problem With Plastics: Hormones

This aspect of the plastic discussion may ultimately prove just as important as the particles themselves.

Plastics aren’t necessarily made from plastic alone.

Manufacturers use many additional chemicals to give plastics flexibility, durability, color, heat resistance and other desirable characteristics.

Some of those chemicals can interfere with the body’s hormonal signaling and are known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

You’ve probably heard of two of them:

BPA (bisphenol A) and phthalates.

Our endocrine system is the network of hormones that helps regulate metabolism, reproduction, thyroid function, growth, appetite and many other biological processes.

An endocrine disruptor can imitate a natural hormone, block a hormone’s normal action or otherwise interfere with hormonal signaling.

This does not mean that every piece of plastic is poisoning our hormones.

It means that certain chemicals used in or associated with plastics have demonstrated hormone-disrupting effects, and exposure depends upon the type of plastic, the chemicals involved, the dose and many other factors.

Microplastics add another wrinkle to the story. They may potentially carry some of these chemicals with them or release additives as the plastic ages and breaks down.

That is one reason researchers are no longer looking at microplastics simply as inert little pieces of debris.

They are asking about the particle itself, the chemicals within it, and other environmental chemicals that may attach to its surface.

What Does Any of This Have to Do With Beauty?

Quite a bit, potentially.

One of the lessons I have learned after decades of practicing medicine—and years of practicing aesthetic medicine—is that the distinction between health and appearance is often artificial.

Your skin is not a decorative covering placed over the rest of your body.

It is a living organ.

Its appearance reflects genetics, age and sun exposure, certainly—but also nutrition, circulation, hormones, inflammation, smoking, sleep, stress and overall health.

That is why I think the future of good aesthetic medicine is about more than chasing wrinkles.

We can stimulate collagen with lasers, ultrasound, microneedling and other technologies. We can relax selected muscles with Botox or Dysport. We can restore lost volume with fillers.

These treatments can produce very gratifying results.

But if our goal is genuinely healthier, younger-looking skin, we also have to think about why skin ages in the first place.

Environmental exposure is increasingly becoming part of that discussion.

Inflammation and Oxidative Stress: Two Familiar Culprits

Another theme repeatedly appearing in microplastic research is inflammation and something called oxidative stress.

The term sounds complicated, but the idea isn’t.

Every day our cells produce chemically reactive molecules as a normal consequence of metabolism and exposure to the environment. Our bodies have antioxidant systems that normally keep them under control.

When that balance gets overwhelmed, cells can become damaged.

We already know that excessive sunlight produces oxidative damage in skin. Cigarette smoke does it. Air pollution can do it.

Laboratory studies suggest micro- and nanoplastics may also promote oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.

Those processes matter in aging because chronic inflammation and oxidative damage can interfere with normal cellular repair and contribute to collagen breakdown.

Once again, however, perspective is important.

If you ask me whether avoiding a plastic water bottle or wearing sunscreen every day is more important for preventing premature skin aging, I would choose the sunscreen without hesitation.

We have decades of compelling evidence about ultraviolet radiation and skin aging.

The microplastic story is much newer.

Should We Try to Reduce Our Exposure?

I think reasonable precautions make sense. Panic does not.

We probably cannot eliminate microplastics from our lives. They are simply too widespread.

But we can reduce unnecessary exposure without allowing it to take over our lives.

I personally think of this as the “why not?” approach.

If I can store leftovers in glass rather than plastic, why not?

If I’m reheating food, using glass or ceramic instead of heating it in plastic is an easy choice.

If a plastic container is old, scratched or deteriorating, replacing it seems reasonable.

A stainless-steel or glass water bottle can reduce our dependence on disposable plastic bottles.

Reducing unnecessary single-use plastics has environmental benefits anyway, so there isn’t much downside.

And perhaps most importantly, we can remain informed without becoming frightened.

Don’t Forget What We Already Know

There is an unfortunate tendency whenever a new health concern appears for people to focus intensely on the new risk while forgetting the old ones that are already well proven.

For our skin, we already know a great deal.

Don’t smoke.

Protect yourself from excessive ultraviolet exposure.

Use sunscreen.

Exercise.

Eat a nutritious diet.

Get adequate protein.

Sleep.

Maintain a healthy weight and metabolic health.

And don’t underestimate the effects that overall physical and emotional well-being can have on how we look and how we age.

I would not stop using a good sunscreen because it comes in a plastic container. The evidence that ultraviolet radiation damages collagen and ages our skin is overwhelmingly stronger than current evidence about microplastics and human skin aging.

Medicine is about putting risks into perspective.

Beauty Really Does Begin Beneath the Surface

One of the things I enjoy about aesthetic medicine is that it sits at an interesting intersection between art and science.

We can look at someone’s face and think about proportions, shadows, volume, skin texture and symmetry.

But as a physician, I can’t help also thinking about the biology underneath.

What is happening to the collagen?

What is happening to muscle and bone as we age?

What is happening metabolically?

What role do nutrition, hormones, inflammation, exercise and environmental exposures play?

Microplastics may eventually turn out to be one more factor in that extraordinarily complicated equation.

The science isn’t finished.

Researchers have shown that microplastics can be found within the human body. Laboratory studies suggest that the smallest particles can interact with skin cells. Experiments also suggest they can increase inflammation and oxidative stress and interfere with fibroblasts—the cells responsible for maintaining our collagen-rich skin structure. And some of the chemicals associated with plastics are known to interfere with normal hormonal signaling.

Those findings deserve our attention.

They don’t deserve panic.

Perhaps the most important lesson is something much simpler:

Looking our best and being healthy are not two separate goals.

Healthy skin is part of a healthy body.

Good aesthetic medicine should certainly help people look better. But I believe it should also encourage us to think about nutrition, exercise, sleep, sun exposure, metabolic health, our environment and all the other factors that allow us to age as well as possible.

After more than four decades in medicine, I still find it fascinating how often the things that are good for our health also turn out to be good for the way we look.

Microplastics are one of the newest chapters in that story.

And I suspect we are going to be hearing a great deal more about them.

Fred Himmelstein, MD
Leading Edge Medical Aesthetics