The versatility of plastic is well-accepted by society—after all, it is used in nearly everything, from manufacturing to packaging, transportation to devices, and cutlery to furniture. But although versatility and simplicity are beneficial to society, nothing ever comes easy in this dog-eat-dog world—the truth is that plastic is indestructible, and even if it did decompose, it may take up to 450 years. And with the escalating use of plastic in the modern world, it is only a matter of time before it takes a serious toll on humanity. Indeed, plastic wreaks immense havoc on ecosystems, considering that it fills landfills with plastic debris and inevitably upsets the natural equilibrium. Plastic’s rapid proliferation has now reached the point where nano-sized microplastics are found in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume.
A scavenger is seen amidst a mountain of plastic trash (Tom Barnes).
The intrusion of plastic into our food supply, water supply, and air poses a threat to human health for two reasons. To begin with, not one human has a microplastic exposure threshold that they can tolerate. Furthermore, plastic absorbs and intensifies other pollutants and chemicals, spreading the harm they cause even further across the environment to which we are constantly exposed. Plastic contaminates and develops in food chains through soil fertility, terrestrial and aquatic food chains, and the water supply once it enters the environment in the form of a microplastic. This form of plastic can easily absorb harmful chemicals or concentrate toxins already present in the environment, making them accessible for human exposure once more.
As plastic particles deteriorate, additional surface regions become visible, allowing additives to continue to seep from the particle's core to the surface in the environment and the human body. Microplastics that enter the human body through direct ingestion or inhalation can lead to various health concerns, commencing with cell disruption. “Harmful effects on cells are in many cases the initiating event for health effects,” said Evangelos Danopoulos of Hull York Medical School in the United Kingdom. Further research proves that the inhalation and ingestion of microplastic provoke chronic health symptoms including inflammation, oxidative stress, and necroptosis, which have been linked to a variety of illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, auto-immune conditions, and neurodegenerative diseases.
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