Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Many of you may have seen the recent Guardian (and Vox) posts about microplastic uncertainty... did you also see the response?... It's sad when media platforms try to do the right thing, by correcting their past misinformation, they're met with this kind of backlash. The incentives really stacked against the truth right now… FYI, discounting something solely based on funding source or affiliation is actually the opposite of critical thinking.
The real issue here isn’t about microplastics, but how broken science journalism has become. Bad science spreads fast, good science struggles to be heard. Careful corrections often get treated like conspiracy. What is abundantly clear is the need for thoughtful science communication, clearer discussion of uncertainty, and a serious effort to rebuild public trust.
Want more detail on microplastics? Oliver Jones PhD (another scientist who researches this stuff) recently contributed to our 2025 Truth in Beauty E-Summit with a presentation on Microplastics: Media Headlines VS Science. He did a phenomenal job breaking down where the science actually is & the massive issues of science sensationalism in the microplastic research arena. You can watch his presentation in the summit replay here: youtube.com/watch?v=FB6UXGbZs7A&t=3940s
Luciana Smaldore also converted his presentation into a written summary in our summit e-book. If you’d prefer to read his commentary, you can find it here (starting on pg 17) docsend.com/view/zp3rp83nzuqavbw9
Many of you may have seen the recent Guardian (and Vox) posts about microplastic uncertainty... did you also see the response?... It's sad when media platforms try to do the right thing, by correcting their past misinformation, they're met with this kind of backlash. The incentives really stacked against the truth right now… FYI, discounting something solely based on funding source or affiliation is actually the opposite of critical thinking.
The real issue here isn’t about microplastics, but how broken science journalism has become. Bad science spreads fast, good science struggles to be heard. Careful corrections often get treated like conspiracy. What is abundantly clear is the need for thoughtful science communication, clearer discussion of uncertainty, and a serious effort to rebuild public trust.
Want more detail on microplastics? Oliver Jones PhD (another scientist who researches this stuff) recently contributed to our 2025 Truth in Beauty E-Summit with a presentation on Microplastics: Media Headlines VS Science. He did a phenomenal job breaking down where the science actually is & the massive issues of science sensationalism in the microplastic research arena. You can watch his presentation in the summit replay here: youtube.com/watch?v=FB6UXGbZs7A&t=3940s
Luciana Smaldore also converted his presentation into a written summary in our summit e-book. If you’d prefer to read his commentary, you can find it here (starting on pg 17) docsend.com/view/zp3rp83nzuqavbw9
