Written by Sara Hayes. For more like this, check out Code Green.
(GLOBAL) - Microplastics plague our drinking water, our food, our cosmetic products, our clothes, and so much more. These small pieces of plastic are less than five millimeters long, but move through food webs, absorbing and radiating harmful pollutants that threaten the safety of collective human health, our oceans, and our environment. Though the specific impacts on human health are not yet thoroughly understood, scientists believe that microplastics could be linked to reproductive disorders, obesity, organ problems, and developmental issues in children.
Plastic seems impossible to avoid in this modern world. The bottles of water we drink out of, the electronics we are glued to, our hair-care products, a simple cosmetic foundation- all of these ordinary items have plastic components. When you eat, drink, or even breathe, it is entirely possible and even likely that you are in turn consuming tiny particles of plastic. Plastic seems impossible to avoid because it truly is. Humans have fostered a relationship with plastic that has become dependent- we rely on plastic in most areas of our material lives. Plastic food packaging is a major contributor to our consumption of microplastics. Plastic tea bags release millions of microscopic plastic particles into your brew, as does plastic bottled water. Plastic packaging of food can leach chemicals into our food.
Recently, microplastics in the cosmetic industry have found their way into this ever changing conversation. Plastic microbeads, or tiny particles of manufactured polyethylene plastic mainly found in cosmetic products, were banned in 2015, but that is not the end of this issue. Plastics make it into cosmetic products for one reason: they are cheap. Synthetic polymers are used in personal care products to make skin look healthy and glowing on the surface, but really clog pores, trapping dirt, sweat, and bacteria deep within your skin.
A study conducted by Boucher and Friot in 2017 concluded that 35 percent of microplastics come from clothing and textiles. The majority of clothing brands use synthetic fabrics that shed millions of particles of microplastics, mostly because they are less expensive than using sustainable fabrics. For example, swim and activewear are mostly made from synthetics (plastics), as are polyester, lycra, spandex, and nylon. In addition, 70 percent of all textile manufacturing is synthetic.
Microplastics are moved by wind and surface currents. The microplastics that your clothes shed are moved by the wind throughout the air. These fragments could be inhaled by humans or they could collect in oceans, where aquatic life (fish, etc) and birds could mistake them for food and consume them, putting their health at risk.
Humans have produced more than eight billion tons of plastic. Less than ten percent of this plastic has been recycled. Because this mass build up of plastic has occurred over a long period of time, mostly since the 1950s, most of the plastic has broken down into tiny fragments that contaminate oceans, lakes, and rivers. Almost more startling is the fact that we even breathe in tens of thousands of microplastics every year.
To put things into perspective, the University of Newcastle in Australia (commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund) conducted a study that found that people ingest more than five grams of plastic a week. This is about the same as consuming a credit card per week. But why are microplastics so detrimental? Many microplastics contain harmful chemicals such as phthalates, Styrene, and polychlorinated biphenyls that have been linked to health issues. These health issues include reduced fertility, hormone disruption, nervous system problems, and in extreme cases, cancer.
How do we reduce the amount of microplastics in our oceans and our atmosphere, as well as our own exposure to these harmful particles? One small change you can make is buying sustainable clothes that are not made of synthetic fibers. Another is drinking water from your tap, rather than involving yourself with bottled water which has more than double the amount of microplastics as tap water. Microplastics are tiny, and the changes you can make to avoid them are also small, but in the long run, pay off. The most important thing that you must remember is that every change you make towards being more sustainable and making the Earth a bit healthier counts. Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
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