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Scientists may have overestimated the potential health risk of microplastics, according to a new study<\/a> from the University of Michigan, which identified a major culprit that could have unintentionally skewed results over multiple previous studies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Researchers found that the nitrile and latex gloves that scientists wear while measuring microplastics may be leading to false positives of the tiny pollutants. That\u2019s because the gloves are coated with nonplastic particles called stearates\u2014soaplike particles that can rub off or shed onto lab equipment, \u201ccreating thousands of false positives per square millimeter (or about one-thousandth of a square inch).\u201d<\/p>\n However, the study\u2019s senior author warns, that\u2019s not to say microplastics aren\u2019t a big problem. \u201cWe may be overestimating microplastics, but there should be none,\u201d Anne McNeil, a professor of chemistry, and macromolecular science and engineering at the University of Michigan<\/a>, said in a statement. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Microplastics are extremely small pieces of plastic (less than 5 millimeters long) that are released into the environment. They are the most common source of debris in our oceans and lakes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA) National Ocean Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat are microplastics?<\/h2>\n