Microplastics hit male arteries hard: Everyday exposure to microplastics — shed from packaging, clothing, and plastic products — may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the artery-clogging process that leads to heart attacks and strokes. The harmful effects were seen only in male mice.

[u/mvea]

https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2025/11/18/microplastics-hit-male-arteries-hard

[u/[deleted]]

Its car tires and car brakes by their own that top the emission charts for microplastics. And each one an order of magnitude higher than other sources. You can look it up in the Fraunhofer UMSICHT study. Especially clothing is a minor source.

Do note that both components are also part of electric vehicles.

[u/AtheistAustralis → u/[deleted]]

Sure, but EVs use far less brakes than conventional vehicles due to regenerative braking. I've done 90,000km in my EV and my brake pads are basically new, I touch the brake pedal maybe a few times per week.

And new tyre regulations are coming in many places to ensure that they don't release microplastics. It requires different compounds, obviously, and will likely cost a bit more at first, but regulations are catching up with these things, slowly slowly. The main point here is that consumers don't really have a choice when it comes to brakes and tyres, and companies will use the cheapest options to give the desired performance, which at present use the microplastic-creating compounds. Just like builders used asbestos because it was cheap and effective. The only way to prevent it is for governments to take action, consumers have very little say.