Plastic has knitted itself into the fabric of everyday home life, appearing in virtually every ubiquitous household item. From packaging materials to household goods, its broad applications make the material one of our most valuable assets. The environmental and health impacts of plastic use are more concerning than ever. Plastic production has surged to about 414 million tonnes in 2023. Yet, this influx of plastic has escalated fears regarding plastic pollution, particularly the badgering micro- and nanoplastics that plague ecosystems as well as permeate the human body.
This article is about how deeply plastics have seeped into every part of our lives. It looks at high levels of microplastics throughout the food chain as well as their potential health risks. As society grapples with the consequences of plastic consumption, understanding these facets is crucial for fostering informed discussions on sustainability and public health.
Plastics in Everyday Life
Plastics are everywhere in contemporary industrial society, with myriad functions across thousands of applications. They’re critical to everything from tanks and airplanes to containers, smartphones, and uniforms — even advanced medical devices. Depending on how we decide to use them, plastics have the capability to be either single-use and disposable or very durable and long-lasting. This versatility is why global demand for plastic products continues to increase.
With increased production comes an inevitable challenge: plastic waste. Despite these trends, millions of tonnes of plastic still leak into landfills or the environment each year. This waste decomposes into microplastics. Scientists refer to it as a “soup” of micro- and nanoplastics that permeate through various ecosystems. These particles vary in size from 1 micrometer down to 0.1 micrometers. They are difficult to detect and to remediate from the environment.
The effects of microplastics go beyond environmental issues. Research has concluded that microplastics have permeated up and down the entire food chain. Below, we discuss what this means in terms of understanding the broader implications to marine biodiversity — or lack thereof — based on their identification within 1,300 species of invertebrates. As these hazardous massing particles bioaccumulate through the food chain, they are even more likely to harm human health in their form as microplastics.
The Journey of Microplastics
Microplastics have many different routes of entry into the human body. The biggest pathway of exposure is breathing in dust in the air that has yet-to-be-released particles. This likelihood is particularly acute in occupational environments where plastic products are utilized or produced. Once in the body, smaller plastic particles exhibit an astonishing capacity to traverse biological barriers. They are capable of homing in on organs in tissues that are remote from the site of initial entry.
New research has demonstrated that microplastics have permeated key human organs including lungs and placentas. These are the liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen, blood, heart, and yes—the brain. Alarmingly, studies have found that these microparticles had the greatest concentration of nanoplastic shards—namely polyethylene—in human brains versus other organs. This situation poses important questions about the immediate health impacts attributable to the outbreak and lasting effects.
One toothbrush can eventually shed up to 8.5 to 19 trillion microplastics. This shocking scale helps to show how quickly microplastics can spread. These mind-blowing numbers and others help to demonstrate just how pervasive plastic degradation truly is. Yet they highlight the severe potential impact on human health and the environment.
Environmental and Health Considerations
According to them, while global plastic production increases by 30 million metric tons each year, so does the fear of environmental breakdown. The condition of our stratospheric ozone layer affects how quickly plastics photodegrade in sunlight. What remains true is that a weakened ozone layer could speed up the fragmentation process, allowing microplastics to enter ecosystems at higher rates.
Microplastics have been found in human bodies, leading to concern over the possible health impacts of ingesting microplastics. We require large-scale epidemiological studies to decide if they directly cause particular diseases. Experts emphasize that understanding the health implications of microplastics is paramount for public health policy and environmental regulations moving forward.