There is growing evidence that there is much less to worry about on microplastics on several fronts.

1. A whole cohort of core studies have been judged to have invalid methodology due to not recording baseline microplastic levels (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2411099121)

2. Young-onset cancers (especially colorectal cancer) which were inferred to be caused by a rise in microplastics are being linked explicitly to other mechanisms and cohorts. (https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.3619)

Summary: dry contact with nearly any laboratory glove will lead to sample contamination and over estimation of microplastics. They found one type of clean room gloves that contaminate less.

Is there any indication on how bad this really is?

Now, I'm worried about people preparing my food with gloves.