Lauryn La
Founder, PRIMALS
01 | Where It Started
You read every label. You check every ingredient list. You research the sunscreen, the shampoo, the laundry detergent.
But every plastic toothbrush in your house is shedding over 3,000 microplastic particles per use directly into your family's bodies. Twice a day. That is 2.3 million fragments per person, per year. Multiply that by every person under your roof.
Your gums absorb compounds 10 times faster than skin. Once inside, microplastics cannot be broken down. They cannot be flushed out. They accumulate in the brain, the arteries, and the organs. And they never leave.
I came across this research while developing products for PRIMALS and it changed how I thought about everything in my bathroom. A 2024 study found 89% of human blood samples now contain detectable microplastics. The toothbrush is the most overlooked source because nobody thinks to check it. Here are 5 reasons moms who read every label are making this switch.
What The Research Found
🪥 3,000+ microplastic particles per brushing session, per person
👶 Microplastics found in placenta, breast milk, and children's tonsils
🧪 Up to 70% of plastic bristles by weight is leachable chemicals
❌ "Bamboo" toothbrush bristles are up to 90% nylon
🛡️ One swap eliminates 2.3 million particles per person, per year
3,000+
microplastic particles per brushing session
10x
faster absorption: gum tissue vs. skin
89%
of human blood samples now contain microplastics
02 | Reason #1: The Silent Exposure
Every Plastic Toothbrush in Your House Sheds 3,000+ Microplastic Particles Every Single Use
A 2025 study found that plastic toothbrushes release over 3,000 microplastic particles per use. 63% are small enough to pass directly through gum tissue into the bloodstream (PMID: 40680448).
That is 2.3 million particles per person, per year. For a family of four, that is over 9 million microplastic particles entering your household every year from toothbrushes alone.
A separate 2024 study found 89% of human blood samples now contain detectable microplastics (Nature Scientific Reports, 2024). You protect what your family eats and drinks. This protects what touches their gums 730 times per person, per year.
Most people worry about microplastics in water bottles or food packaging. But a toothbrush is the only plastic product your family presses against highly absorbent mucous membrane tissue twice a day, every day. No supplement, no cleanse, and no detox can remove microplastics once they are inside the body. The only thing you can control is whether you keep adding more.
For a full breakdown of where these particles go once they enter the body, read our guide on microplastics in toothbrushes.
03 | Reason #2: Your Kids Are More Vulnerable
Microplastics Have Been Found in Placenta, Breast Milk, and Children's Tonsils
This is not a future risk. Microplastics have already been found embedded deep within pediatric tonsil tissue, in human placenta, and in breast milk (Stanford Medicine, 2025).
👶 Why Children Are at Higher Risk
Their cells divide faster, absorbing more plastic per pound of body weight
Their blood-brain barrier is more permeable
Their brains, organs, and hormonal systems are still forming
Plastic chemicals affect birth outcomes, metabolic conditions, and neurodevelopment
Reducing exposure during childhood matters more than at any other age. Nothing synthetic should be touching their gums twice a day while their bodies are still developing.
04 | Reason #3: It Is Not Just Plastic
Up to 70% of Soft Plastic Is Leachable Chemicals That Enter Your Family's Bodies
Scientists warn that up to 70% of soft plastic by weight is chemical additives that leach directly into saliva (ScienceDirect, 2017). Plasticizers, BPA, phthalates. They leach every time bristles press against warm, wet gum tissue.
Where do they end up?
🧠 Human brain tissue now contains 0.5% plastic by weight, up 50% in 8 years (Nature Medicine, 2024)
🧠 Dementia brains contain up to 10x more microplastic than healthy brains
🫀 58% of surgery patients had microplastics in their arteries (NEJM, 2024)
🫀 Those patients were 4.5x more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or die
Your family's bodies cannot remove microplastics or the chemicals they carry. These chemicals mimic estrogen and disrupt hormonal balance in both adults and developing children. But you can stop adding to the load.
100,000+ Families Have Already Made the Switch
You protect everything else.
This is the one thing you missed.
05 | Reason #4: The Lie on the Label
Other "Bamboo" Toothbrush Bristles Are Up to 90% Nylon
You already tried to fix this. You bought the "bamboo" toothbrush because it looked safer. But independent lab testing told a different story:
❌ "Bamboo fiber" bristles contain up to 90% nylon with a fraction of actual bamboo powder
❌ "Biodegradable Nylon-4" lab tested as non-biodegradable Nylon-6
❌ Castor oil "bioplastic" bristles still shed microplastic particles
❌ "BPA-free" does not mean plastic-free. The bristles are the problem. Not the handle.
PRIMALS is 100% plastic-free from handle to bristle. Not a bamboo handle with nylon bristles. Pure boar hair bristles woven into bamboo without synthetic adhesives. No fine print. No asterisks. What you see on the label is exactly what your family gets in their mouth. Read the full breakdown in our bamboo toothbrush scam exposed.
06 | Reason #5: The One Thing You Control
You Cannot Control Everything. But You Can Control Your Family's Toothbrushes.
You cannot control the air they breathe or the water they drink at school. You cannot control the plastic in their cafeteria trays or the chemicals on the gym floor. You have already accepted that you cannot protect them from everything.
But the toothbrushes in your bathroom? Those are still your call. Everyone in the house uses one, twice a day, 365 days a year. One order stops 2.3 million microplastic particles per person, per year. That is the single highest-impact swap you can make for your entire household.
Each 4-pack covers one person for a full year. Replace every 3 months. For a family of four, three 4-packs and the whole house is protected.
That is exactly why I built the PRIMALS Boar Bristle and Bamboo Toothbrush. One product for the whole family. They will not even notice you switched. You will know exactly what you removed.
What Makes PRIMALS Different
"I check every ingredient in our food. I never once thought to check our toothbrushes. Once I saw the research, I switched the whole house the same day."
- Lauryn La, Founder of PRIMALS
07 | Your Questions, Answered
Frequently Asked Questions From Moms
08 | The Bottom Line
You Protect Everything Else. Now Protect This.
You cannot control what they eat at school or drink from fountains. But you can control what enters their bodies twice a day at home. One swap. 2.3 million fewer particles per person, per year.
Your family. Your home. Keep it primal.
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