We Wear Plastic – Now Are We Eating and Drinking Plastic Too?

According to UN Environment, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year. As you may know, plastic isn’t readily biodegradable. It breaks up into tiny pieces measuring less than 5 mm – some smaller than a strand of hair. These are famously known as “microplastics.” But no matter how many times plastic breaks up into pieces, it will always be present on this planet.

Unfortunately, these microplastics don’t only come from plastic water bottles or plastic packaging. Some plastics are intentionally made so small and are found in our health and beauty products. *Heard of microbeads?* Yes, those exfoliating products essentially have plastic beads that you rub all over yourself, including your teeth. Thankfully, countries are progressively banning microbeads and you can keep track of this progress on Beat the Micro Bead. In addition, your clothes made of synthetic fabrics like polyester also produce microplastics in the form of microfibers.
*Check out this list of some of the most common clothing fabrics to find out more.*

All these tiny plastics make their way into our water streams and eventually in the ocean.

Plastic in the Ecosystem

Now, why is it so bad other than the fact that plastic does not degrade and will forever be on Earth? It disrupts the ecosystem.
Wildlife eat the plastic and it kills them. These animals can’t digest these pieces of plastic, and so they accumulate in their gut leaving no space for the actual food they need to survive. Sometimes, it only takes a small sharp plastic piece to pierce a hole in their stomach, or to rupture their internal organs for these creatures to die.

Not only that, but these microplastics are also making their way up in the food chain and therefore, in our stomachs. Because these microplastics can be so small, we see tiny planktons ingesting microfibers. Planktons are at the bottom of the marine food chain. As a result, shrimps, sardines, mollusks, and other small fish eat these planktons and larger fish eat these smaller fish. This continues all the way up the food chain to us.

And if you don’t eat seafood, these plastic particles can also be found in your bottled water. Plastic and microplastics “infiltrate” our water sources, and water is a resource that we can’t live without. Even more shocking, a recent study found, for the first time, microplastics in human stools. “On average, 20 particles of microplastic were found in each 10g of excreta.” The sources of these microplastics in the stools are still unknown.

What are the Dangers of Plastic?

Apart from the fact that some plastics are itself toxic and carcinogenic, plastics can also absorb toxins and contaminants making microplastics “deadly pills” for marine life. According to the documentary A Plastic Ocean, the fats and muscles of the animals can absorb these chemicals, which then circulate in their bloodstream and can disrupt their digestive, endocrine, and reproductive system, and their growth among other things.

This also affects us humans. We saw that plastics have made their way into our food chain and in our water supplies. Knowing that they can absorb toxins and contaminants, our bodies may also absorb these chemicals. According to the 2018 scientific review Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications for Human Health, this exposure can:

• affect our cardiopulmonary responses – this relates to the heart and lungs;
• alter our endogenous metabolites – this relates to all the vital chemical reactions in the body;
• cause inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, and genotoxicity – a destructive effect on a cell’s genetic material (DNA and RNA);
• affect our nutrient absorption, gut flora, and reproduction.

Because of their tiny size and inability to dissolve in water, these now nanoplastics *smaller than microplastics* can easily be transported from the gut into the blood, and pass through different walls leading to the brain, the lungs, the liver, and other vital organs where harm can occur.

However, further research and tests still need to be done to fully comprehend the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on the human health.

How Can You Reduce Your Microplastic Waste?

• Choose reusables over single-use plastics;
• Favor natural over synthetic fibers – *learn more about your clothing fibers in my previous article.*
• If you have synthetic fabrics in your wardrobe, use a washing bag like the ones from Guppyfriend which filters microfibers;
• Wear your piece of clothing as much as you can before washing.

About 70% of the planet is water. The world’s ecosystem depends on a healthy ocean. But it’s impossible to filter out the whole ocean. It has come to a point where we need to stop dumping plastic in our water sources. And we have to reduce our plastic consumption and reuse whatever plastic is currently on the planet.

**If you would like to know more about plastic pollution’s impact, I highly recommend watching the documentary A Plastic Ocean.