Fay Couceiro

“So we would like, if it's possible, to speak to manufacturers about how to avoid them, whether they can stop making certain plastics in the first place. For example, for people who go into hospital to be treated for respiratory diseases, the masks are plastic, and the tubing is plastic. So can we find better alternatives which prevent them getting into the system in the first place?”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro suggests collaborating with manufacturers to find safer alternatives to medical plastics.

“With asthma, we know that air quality is a massive thing, one of the major problems that initiates attacks,”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro discusses the role of air quality in triggering asthma attacks.

“And if plastic particles are slightly worse than the other particles in the air, then we need to try and reduce their exposure to them.”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro emphasizes the importance of reducing exposure to airborne plastic particles.

“They're not going to immediately cause a specific harm, but it's more likely that they're going to damage your cells and create a burden on your overall wellbeing which makes you more likely to get illnesses.”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro describes the cumulative cellular damage microplastics may cause to human health.

“If we can do this with enough people, we might be able to draw some general conclusions across a number of people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and speak to them about what's in their homes and how they can avoid certain things,”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro discusses testing patient environments to provide advice on avoiding harmful plastic particles.

“We know that microplastics are everywhere, even in the indoor environment. If they're in your air, you're still taking in microplastics at low levels when you're asleep,”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro notes that people continuously inhale microplastics indoors, even during sleep.

“It sounds like a weird place to do this, but Antarctica has the lowest load of antimicrobial resistance genes so it's a good area to look at that because you don't have so much noise from other things,”

Fay Couceiro · said date not stated · reported 2025-07-25

Couceiro explains why Antarctica is a suitable site to study antimicrobial resistance genes on microplastics.