The Tamil Nadu government told the Madras High Court it has asked IIT-Madras to study the harmful effects of microplastics on human health from food items like milk, coffee, tea, and hot sambar sold in plastic pouches. On January 22, 2026, Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar sent a letter to Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran revealing this request. The letter said the Food Safety Commissioner sought IIT-M’s help to research the issue after the court insisted on detailed scientific proof. The court learned about this while hearing environment-related cases. An interim report from PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Coimbatore showed that microplastics contain harmful chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), which disrupt hormones. BPA in the environment could damage human health, especially for unborn babies. The PSG study tested cord blood from 10 newborns whose mothers gave consent during pregnancy. BPA levels ranged from 0.43 to 1.1578 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. The average was 0.7194, much higher than the allowed safe daily intake of 0.2 nanograms per kilogram. The judges said, "If plastics can pollute even the placenta of a mother, then the authorities concerned must look into the issue with the seriousness it deserves." The court added the Union Health Ministry and Tamil Nadu health department as respondents and ordered them to study microplastics' health effects before making any policy decisions.