Eating Plastics

After World War II, plastics had an increased presence in our homes; they were not only part of vehicles, now you also could find plastics in plates, glasses, cutlery, containers for different uses and even in the form of microbeads that were used as a component added to personal hygiene products and cosmetics. Some of the advantages of this type of product, its durability and absorption capacity, have become a new source of problems worldwide.

Plastics undoubtedly are present in the lives of everyone around the world, at least in developed and developing countries. They have many diverse forms, colors and designs, and  a multitude of uses. In fact, when you get up in the morning the carpet on which you stand probably has plastic materials in its composition, the toothpaste most likely also has them (as microbeads), the glass you use to drink your favorite coffee on the way to work or the container you use to take snacks or food to the office, most likely are made from some kind of plastic.

We also leave a pollutant footprint from the large amount of plastics that we discard. The glass from the party, the barbecue plate, the carnival or Halloween mask, the Christmas ornaments, those synthetic clothes that you no longer use, and you decided to throw away, these are just examples of the many plastic pollutants found across the world.

According to the EFE News Agency [1], citing the UN, “400 million tons of plastics” are discarded in the world every year and only 9% of these are recycled; 79% of them remains in landfills and 12% is incinerated freely generating even more pollution [1].

“… Every year in the world 5 billion plastic bags are consumed, which means almost 10 million plastic bags every minute…” according to EFE.

About 20,000 bottles of water are bought in the world per second, which is the same as 1,000,000 plastic bottles per minute and only about 53% of them will end up being recycled. And this growing accumulation of plastic pollutants ends up mostly in the oceans, estimating their discharge at a figure close to 10 million tons per year [2]. In addition, it should be remembered that plastic decomposition time ranges from 100 to 1,000 years, so this is a long-term problem.

But the problem with this kind of waste is that 20 years ago it had already acquired the dimension of a “floating island” with an extension of 1.6 million square kilometers in the Pacific alone, but the issue is not restricted to the oceans. In the deserts, plastics are accumulating and are causing deaths; for example, “camels with up to 50 kilos of plastic have been found in their bellies” [3].

And there is more data that support the aforementioned: Every second an additional 200 kilos of garbage are dumped into the oceans, equating to almost 8 million tons per year. This is equivalent to the weight of 800 Eiffel Towers or 14,285 Airbus A380 aircraft. The total amount of plastic pollutants in the waters is unknown, although it is estimated to be between 5 and 50 billion pieces of suspended plastic, but this does not include the pieces, 70% of which sink to the seabed, 15% remain in the water column and 15% on the surface. Currently, 5 islands of plastics are described (2 in the Pacific, 2 in the Atlantic and 1 in the Indian) [4].

“It is thought that the situation will get worse because by 2020 the plastic production rate will increase by 900% compared to 1980; polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride are the main pollutants, ”according to the source mentioned above.

Once in the environment, due to the effect of the weather, tides, sunlight and several other factors, the plastic begins to disintegrate into smaller and smaller parts until they form what are called the secondary microplastics. These differ from the primary plastics because they do not have specific shapes, but are in the form of microbeads, capsules, microfibers or pellets [5, 6]. These elements that are dissolved in water can be ingested by animals and through them enter into the human food chain. They also form part of the suspended particles that are inhaled with the dust in the air.

Data about the impact of plastics on the seabed suggests that approximately 700 species of living beings are exposed. This pollution affects all species, from microscopic zooplankton to the great whales, including sea lions, turtles and even the shark with its reputation as a killer is affected by these pollutants. Seabirds are also affected by these plastics and humans are to be the next victim of such a lethal agent.

Professor Thompson, a marine ecologist, when asked about the issue of pollutant plastics in the seabed and microplastics, a term attributed to him precisely, is not worried yet when eating his “fish and chips” because evidence does not show that these pass from the intestines of the fish to the human being [4, 7]. His fear is that chemical additives and nano plastics “could migrate to the tissues of fish and humans”with the aggravating factor that the amount of additives present in the residues ingested by fish is unknown, nor is there a method that allows “the detection of nanoparticles in the environment” [7].

But should human beings really care about polluting plastics? If the environmental impact is not sufficient reason for this, then let’s look at certain additional data. Plastics act as a kind of sponge that absorb different toxins and which, after being ingested by animals, could end up as part of the human diet. But beyond that possibility, the presence of lead, cadmium, mercury, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), diethyl ethyl phthalate (DEHP), transforms them into dangerous substances because exposure to these increased health risks such as the possibility of develop cancer, hormonal interference, reproductive toxicity, birth defects, immune problems, as well as problems in childhood neurodevelopment [8].

This should include the pioneering study conducted by professors Schwabl and Liebmann, both Austrians, who in an attempt to find out if it was possible that microplastics could reach the human diet, reviewed the daily dietary habits of volunteers from Europe, Russia and Japan. Although the results are preliminary, they found the presence of 20 small pieces of plastic for every 20 grams of feces in each of them. What this means is that every person in the study consumed between 800 and 1,000 pieces of microplastics every day. And what is even more worrisome, the exact origin of it is unknown [7].

Professor Schwabl himself points out that the impact of plastics on human health is unknown, because so far there has been no specific deaths that can be attributed to it. Affirmation of this is also supported by a study carried out by the scientific advisory body of the European Community, known as SAPEA for its acronym in English, which in respect to microplastics and human health stated: “does not represent a generalized problem for humans or the environment… ” but it should not be dismissed.

It must be remembered and stressed, that experimentally it has been shown that microplastics could cause the death of animals by blocking the digestive tract, decreasing the need to eat or even altering eating behavior, with undeniable repercussions on growth and in the reproductive capacity of the affected animals. In addition, contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals usually adhere to the surface of these microplastics and, in this way, end up being ingested by animals [9].

In this sense, Professor Chelsea Rochman, from the University of Toronto, conducted a study where ground polyethylene (the same often used for the manufacture of plastic bags)was exposed to the weather for three months. The residues were then mixed with nutrients and fed to a variety of fish often used as animal models in the laboratory. After sometime, he began to detect that those fish fed with the residues had a higher rate of liver damage than those that were fed a diet that included virgin plastic [9].

And that should be worrisome, especially when everything suggests a growing exposure to plastics.

“In a year the average person ingests approximately 50,000 microplastic particles and inhales an equivalent amount” …

And those figures may be even higher according to experts recently consulted by Carrington in an interesting report for The Guardian [10].

In summary, plastics represent a growing problem for both the environment and human health, so it is imperative to initiate actions that reduce or eliminate their impact.

The solution, although complicated, is simple: a radical change in production and consumption habits! Looking back at what experts have called “a circular economy” that encourages economic growth through inventions with minimal environmental impact, plastic reduction initiatives have already begun spreading around the world. In fact, every day more countries prohibit the use of plastic bags. Additionally, they are banning the use of microbeads in cosmetics. Large transnationals have initiated programs to collect and recycle 100% of the containers used. In another sector of industry, the development of products that can be later recycled, reused or compostable, is taking place. In the meantime, it is time to collect the garbage, to properly dispose of it. There is no time to lose, picking up is imperative and as a citizen, you have a duty to make conscious use of plastics.

Meanwhile, as an attempt to minimize the presence of plastics in your life, initiate the following actions [11]:

• Filter the tap water before consuming it, for this purpose the carbon filters have proven to be quite effective, but it is always advisable to ask the person skilled in the art.
• Avoid the use of plastic containers, promoting the use of eco-friendly materials.
• Discard the use of cosmetics or personal hygiene items that include microbeads.
• When washing clothes, shorten the washing and drying time or use air drying.
• When eating meat of any kind, look for products obtained through sustainable and healthy practices.
• And, limit the use of synthetic clothing.

References:

[1] EFE. (June 5, 2018). The UN warns that only 9% of the plastic used in the world is recycled on the EFE website. Recovered from https://www.efe.com/efe/espana/sociedad/la-onu-advierte-de-que-solo-el-9-del-plastico-usado-en-mundo-se-recicla/10004- 3638488. Accessed on: November 15, 2019.

[2] BBC World. (December 11, 2017). 5 graphics to understand why plastic is a threat to our planet on the BBC world website. Recovered from https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-42304901. Accessed on: November 15, 2019.

[3] Gorospe, P. (October 14, 2019). “Plastic is ravaging animals” in El País Sociedad. Retrieved from https://elpais.com/sociedad/2019/10/08/actualidad/1570544274_398711.html. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[4] Estévez, R. (August 28, 2019). Data on the pollution caused by plastic in Ambientum. Recovered from https://www.ambientum.com/ambientum/residuos/contaminacion-plastico.asp. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[5] National Ocean Service. (November 15, 2019). What are microplastics? On National Ocean Service website. Recovered from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html. Accessed on: November 15, 2019.

[6] National Ocean Service. (). What are microplastics? In Microplastic marine debris. Recovered from https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/MicroplasticsOnePager_0.pdf. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[7] Hervey, G. (May 5, 2019). The plastic in our bodies in Politico. Recovered from https://www.politico.eu/article/the-plastic-in-our-bodies-health/. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[8] Andrews, G. (2012). Plastics in the ocean affecting human health in Teach the Earth. Recovered from https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[9] Royte, E. (June, 2018). We Know Plastic Is Harming Marine Life. What About Us in National Geographic. Recovered from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-health-pollution-waste-microplastics/. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[10] Carrington, D. (June 5, 2019). People eat at least 50,000 plastic particles a year, study finds on The Guardian website. Recovered from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/05/people-eat-at-least-50000-plastic-particles-a-year-study-finds. Accessed on: November 16, 2019.

[11] De Lorenzo, C. (August 15, 2019). 6 Ways to Avoid Microplastics, Because Research Shows They’re Everywhere in Bustle. Recovered from https://www.bustle.com/p/6-ways-to-avoid-microplastics-because-research-shows-theyre-everywhere-18662490. Accessed on: November 17, 2019.