Invisible ingredients

She’s about to enjoy her favourite dinner, fresh salad, bread, and water. Everything looks perfect. But look closer. Glimmering specks of plastic are hidden in her food and drink. She doesn’t know they’re there. None of us truly do.

Every day, we unknowingly consume micro- and nanoplastics, tiny fragments of plastics that have found their way into our water, our food, and ultimately, our bodies. These particles are too small to taste, too ordinary to question. Yet their presence raises urgent, unanswered questions.

My research investigates what happens after these invisible ingredients enter the gut. Do they irritate and harm the gastrointestinal system? Disrupt the immune system? Accumulate in vital organs over time? We’re only beginning to understand the consequences.

This image is not science fiction – a quiet but pressing reality: the plastics we discard don’t vanish they return to us at the dinner table. This child is not a symbol of the future. She represents our present, and the hidden risks we live with every day.

“Plastics don’t just pollute the planet. They’re changing our biology, cell by cell, meal by meal. Understanding their impact isn’t curiosity. It’s survival” – Aswin Kuttykattil