A 2025 Study Found Plastic Toothbrushes Release 2.3 Million Microplastic Particles Every Year

By Jessica M.

Last Updated February 21. 2026

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You're Swallowing Plastic Every Time You Brush

A 2023 PubMed study found plastic toothbrushes release up to 120 microplastic particles per brushing session — 88,000 fragments a year.

Disturbing enough. Then a 2025 study put the real number at 2.3 million per year. 26x higher than anyone thought.

Those particles don't stay in your mouth. They enter your bloodstream, travel through your body, and accumulate in your organs.

You've brushed your teeth every day your entire life. Nobody told you what was coming with it.

What's Actually In Your Toothbrush Bristles

Here's something the toothbrush industry has never told you.

Your plastic bristles are made of specifically nylon — the same synthetic material used to make ropes, carpets, and clothing. It goes hard, it frays, and it breaks down over time.

You scrub them against your teeth. You run hot water over them. Your saliva sits on them for two minutes straight. You do this twice a day, every day, for months.

That wears plastic down. And worn-down plastic goes somewhere.

It goes into your mouth.

Here's exactly what's happening:

Repeated Brushing Breaks Plastic Apart

Every back-and-forth stroke physically wears your nylon bristles down. Tiny plastic fragments break off — and end up in your mouth with every brush.

Degrades Into Micro & Nanoplastics

Heat and saliva from your mouth further weaken the material structure, breaking down nylon bristles into micro and nanoplastics.

Plastic Particles Absorbed Into The Body

These micro and nanoplastics enter your bloodstream through your highly absorptive gum & mouth tissues while also often being inadvertently swallowed.

Once They're Inside You, Where Do Microplastics Actually Go?

Scientific research shows once microplastics enter your bloodstream, your body has no way to remove them. They don't get filtered out. They don't break down. They accumulate — in your organs, your tissue, your cells — and they start causing problems.

Chronic Inflammation

Your immune system treats microplastics as a foreign invader and attacks — triggering constant, low-grade inflammation that quietly weakens your immunity over time.

Hormone Disruption & Fertility Problems

BPA and phthalates in nylon bristles interfere directly with your hormones — linked to lower sperm quality, reduced fertility, and reproductive issues in both men and women.

Toxin Buildup

Microplastics act like sponges inside your body, absorbing heavy metals and pesticides and releasing them straight into your tissue.

Cell & DNA Damage
Long-term exposure damages cells at a molecular level — researchers have linked it to accelerated ageing and increased risk of degenerative disease.

The Tusk Boar Bristle Toothbrush: A Plastic Free Solution

Tusk was built around one simple idea — your toothbrush should clean your body, not contaminate it. Every part of it is designed to give you an effective clean without putting a single microplastic particle into your mouth.

100% Boar Bristles

Zero Nylon. Zero BPA. Zero Synthetics.

Bamboo Handle

Brushing The Way Nature Intended

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