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Plastic Pollution: The Dangers of Microplastics
Village Green Nutrition Team on
Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. It is estimated that there are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans and this number is growing at an alarming rate.
The most common type of plastic found in the ocean is microplastic. These are pieces of plastic that can be as small as 10 nanometers in size, undetectable to the human eye, and can range up to 5mm. They can come from a variety of sources, including broken-down plastic waste, microbeads from personal care products, and synthetic fibers from clothing.
Microplastics can be ingested by marine life, leading to dire health problems such as starvation, toxicity, and reproductive disorders. Microplastics can also absorb other toxins from the ocean and when eaten by fish and other marine creatures, the plastic micro-particles, as well as the toxins from the chemicals in the plastics plus those that have been absorbed, then enter the food chain, posing a serious threat to human health.
Long-term usage and exposure of plastics and plastic products to high temperature can lead to leaching of toxic chemical constituents into food, drinks and water. Indiscriminate disposal of plastics on land allows toxins to leach into soil and water. Open-air burning can lead to the release of toxic chemicals into the air. All of these scenarios cause serious public health hazards for people and animals, including birds.
One way to combat the problem of plastic pollution is to reduce our reliance on disposable and single use plastics. We can do this by choosing reusable alternatives such as cloth bags instead of supermarket bags, metal straws instead of disposable straws (or no straws!), beeswax wraps rather than plastic wrap, natural clothing materials over synthetic fibers, reusable cups rather than disposable cups, and water bottles made from glass or metal rather than plastic. In addition, it is important to avoid products that contain microbeads, such as some body washes, toothpastes, and facial cleansers, as the tiny plastic particles can be absorbed directly through our skin, as well as pollute our water supply when they run down our sink and shower drains.
We also need to improve waste management practices globally so that more plastic waste can be recycled or composted rather than ending up in our oceans and landfills. However, current recycling programs are often not honestly recycling the materials as promised, which is only adding to the problem. The best solution is to stop using plastics entirely, particularly single-use plastics. And while there are many things we can and should do individually, we also need to affect change on higher levels, for instance, working to get plastics out of food packaging.
We need to work together to create a future where plastics no longer pose a threat to our environment and marine life, and all life on this planet.
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