Body Burden
Project Field
Product Design & Development
Project
Microplastics Exposure Calculator
Microplastics research is everywhere, but scattered across dozens of academic papers with no accessible way for regular people to understand their personal exposure. I wanted to build a tool that gathered this science in one place — not for researchers, but for anyone curious about their own habits.
Case Study
● ● ● ● The Design Challenge
The core challenge wasn't visual — it was scientific. My original concept was a single cumulative exposure score: input your habits, get a total number. Clean, simple, satisfying.
The problem emerged when I contacted a microplastics researcher directly to validate my methodology. She explained that studies measuring exposure from different sources use fundamentally different research methodologies. Adding their figures together would produce a number that looked precise but was scientifically meaningless.
● ● ● ● The Pivot
Rather than abandon the project, I restructured the calculator around exposure categories — Kitchen & Cooking, Food & Diet, Drinking Water, Air & Environment — each scored independently using methodology-appropriate studies.
● ● ● ● The Detail That Shows the Thinking
Every exposure card displays a different unit — per use, per cup, per year, per session. This isn't inconsistency, it's the scientific constraint made visible. The studies measure exposure differently by definition, so combining them into a single number would be meaningless. The design makes that honest without ever explaining it to the user.
● ● ● ● Outcome
Launched April 2026. Referenced by youthclimateleader.org as a student resource, validating the scientific credibility of the approach.
