Eating from plastic containers is associated with diminished mind health

Microplastics have been detected in almost every part of the human body, including the brain. This raises a fundamental question: what effect might they be having on our mental capacities? Using data from 273,735 people around the world collected between 2024 and 2025 through the Global Mind Project, we explored whether consuming food or drink from plastic containers, and particularly eating hot food from plastic containers, is linked to differences in what we call “mind health”: the full spectrum of emotional, social, and cognitive wellbeing.

Here’s what we find:

• Mind health declines sharply with frequency of plastic use. Those who rarely or never consumed food or drinks from plastic containers had an average MHQ score of 79, compared with 54 among those who did so daily.

• Hot food makes the difference. The effect was strongest for eating hot food from plastic containers, where average scores fell from 74 to 50 depending on frequency. This pattern held true even among those with otherwise healthy diets.

• The effect is broad, not narrow. Unlike lifestyle factors such as ultra-processed food consumption or early smartphone use — which impact specific mental domains — consuming food or drink from plastic containers was associated with a diffuse decline across all dimensions of mind health: emotional, social, and cognitive.

• It’s a global habit. About half the world’s population eats hot food from plastic containers at least weekly, with rates highest in East and South-East Asia (nearly 70%), followed by North America and Western Europe. The practice is most common among younger people.

These results suggest that frequent consumption of food or drink from plastic containers, particularly when hot, may be quietly undermining mental wellbeing across the globe. While more research is needed to understand exactly how microplastics affect the brain, the evidence already points to the value of simple actions , such as avoiding microwaving food in plastic and choosing stainless-steel or glass containers, to reduce exposure and protect mind health.

READ THE REPORT

This report is based on data from 273,735 internet-enabled adults (18+) across the globe, obtained between 2024 and 2025 as part of the Global Mind Project. Data were collected using an assessment called the Mind Health Quotient, or MHQ, which assesses 47 aspects of mental feeling and function that are aggregated into a overall mind health and wellbeing score that reflects someone’s ability to navigate life’s challenges and function productively.

It’s important to note that this data is from online respondents and does not include people without internet access. This will have a bigger impact in some developing countries where many communities live offline.