US student's plant gels remove up to 93% of microplastics in lab test

Minnesota seventh-grader Isabella Garry, a finalist in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, tested gels from okra, fenugreek and psyllium in simulated stomach fluid. Within 60 minutes, psyllium removed up to 93.3% of microplastics, fenugreek 82.7% and okra 81%. The jar experiments do not show whether the gels would work or be safe in humans.