Background

Microplastic pollution is one of the top environmental concerns for governments around the world. Primary microplastics are polymers manufactured at tiny sizes, such as microbeads in face cleansers, whereas secondary microplastics are minute plastic particles derived from the breakdown of larger plastic waste.

A study of market air in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai sampled five markets in each city at the height at which a person breathes. It found that microplastics now make up as much as 5% of the particulate pollution in Indian cities, at concentrations of 14.23 micrograms per cubic metre in Kolkata and 14.18 in Delhi. The particles measured are smaller than ten micrometres, which is small enough to travel deep into the lungs and from there into the bloodstream. The study’s lead researcher estimates that an average city dweller could inhale close to 2.9 grams of plastic over a lifetime, roughly the weight of a small plastic bottle. Levels were highest on winter evenings, when crowded markets and still air hold the particles close to the ground.

A review of microplastics regulation in India found that no Indian standard yet sets an enforceable limit for them, and that the country still lacks common methods for sampling and measurement, without which limits cannot be written. Existing plastic waste rules were designed for discarded objects, so they miss the two largest sources of these particles, which are tyre wear and the fibres shed by synthetic clothing during ordinary use. The particles have meanwhile been found almost everywhere anyone has looked, including in every one of the ten salt brands and five sugar brands tested by Toxics Link in 2024.

The Microplastics Awareness Plan (MAP) was founded in July 2025 to work on that gap. It aims to reduce microplastic exposure in densely populated urban areas and give students from underserved communities the practical knowledge to detect and reduce microplastics in their own daily lives.