A quest to discover exactly how harmful microplastics are to humans has been given a million-dollar boost by a prominent Australian billionaire.

Mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest will invest $4.5 million through the Minderoo Foundation for a custom plastics and human health laboratory at the University of Queensland.

Professor Kevin Thomas told Sofie Formica a purpose-built, plastic-free lab will be a gamechanger for researchers.

“The reality is those small pieces of plastics are everywhere,” he said. “When we measure inside our normal laboratory, we can detect plastics everywhere.

“I must say that was a bit of an eye-opener for myself when we started working on this.

“If we find plastics in a human ear, for instance, we can make sure it’s from there and not from contamination from the environment around us.”

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