Plastics are now as much part of the world as we are. They have permeated every aspect of our lives. We know how microplastic is found on the most remote mountain peaks, darkest caves, and the depths of the ocean floor, but only now is the truth about microplastics inside of us being unveiled. By Cora Photo by Sören Funk on Unsplash In the next 60 seconds, one million plastic bottles will be purchased world-wide and two million plastic bags will be produced. By the end of this year, we will have produced enough plastic wrap to go around the equator ten times according to the New York Times. The problem with this man-made creation is that plastics disappear and instead forever litter our world. The UN estimates that the 400 million metric tons produced annually will remain on Earth, often breaking down from plastics into microplastics. Scientists have recently discovered microplastics inside our food and even in the air we breathe this second. They are now in our lungs, our guts, our blood, and even our brains, as well in breast milk. Nienke Vresekoop, a microplastic researcher, claims that immune cells that come into contact with microplastics die three times faster than the ones that don’t. Microplastics are woven into our systems like a poison. It does not matter your religion, age, race or status; we cannot escape this new kind of pollution. A fascinating new documentary called Plastic Pollution came out on March 13th (and will soon be released on Netflix) about how microplastic gets inside of us and the health risks that stem from this. As one of the interviewees says, "It's everywhere." Some of the most remote places in the world have around 4% of microplastic in the dust. More than 1,000 metric tons of microplastic is also deposited in those remote places annually by wind and rain. So plastics are now even in the air we breathe, no matter the place, climate, or altitude. There is increasing evidence that microplastics contribute to and may even cause a wide range of diseases now found in the modern world. Inflammation, cancer, heart disease, inflammatory bowl disease, rheumatoid arthritis, genotoxicity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and autoimmune diseases may all be worsened by microplastics inside of our bodies. Microplastics travel up the food chain, from one animal to the next and are also woven into our systems through plants, grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables that need soil to grow. The soil is contaminated with these plastics and when the plants take in the moisture from the soil, many small microplastics enter the plant systems. Also when it rains, the chemicals in the microplastics seep out and poison the soil, which then gets into the roots of the plants and into our systems when we consume the plants. Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash Ziya Tong, the co-director of the Discovery Channel says, “It’s not like we need some remarkable new invention to address the problem. We just have to use less plastic.”
There is no escaping the grasp of microplastic pollution. It is in every corner of the world and every inch of land. We cannot bar our doors and look away any longer. We cannot pretend this is nothing when we are poisoning ourselves and our world. In making the earth our dumping ground, we are shattering any hope we have of a healthy future.
1 Comment
Terry
29/3/2024 12:51:07
Thank you for this thought- provoking & cautionary piece, Cora, about the far-reaching harms of microplastics. I truly hope that humans can course-correct and make much better choices if our planet and our health is to have any hope.
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