Plastics, and especially microplastics, are a growing concern among many. With studies showing their presence everywhere, being found even in the cold and isolated snows of Antarctica in a recent study, it’s important to have an understanding of the health risks of plastics.

Effects on Human Health:

It’s clear that the sheer amount of plastics in our environment (our homes, workplaces, and everywhere else we spend time) combined with its presence in our food means that much of this plastic is ending up in our bodies. Some examples of how this affects us:

• In our bloodstreams: microplastics and nanoplastics have appeared as factors in worsening cardiovascular issues such as heart attacks and strokes.
• In our digestive tract: the presence of plastic in our digestive systems is associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and may even be a driver of recent spikes in early onset colorectal cancer.
• In the womb: plastic has been found throughout the placenta, and these plastics carry with them powerful chemicals that could be affecting the health and early development of fetuses in the womb.
• In our brains: not only have microplastics been found in the brains of the deceased, but high concentrations of it are associated with conditions like dementia and cognitive decline.

Effects on Wildlife

As concerning as these effects on humans are, it’s also clear from the evidence that plastic is having an even more severe impact on wildlife. Plastic is a massive, and growing, threat to sea creatures of various shapes and sizes, ranging from the smallest to the largest, and these effects move into the human world rather than being isolated to only effecting wilderness:

• In a study, nearly 1-in-10 fish examined had plastic inside them, including fish that are regularly eaten by humans.
• On the small scale, some of the smallest organisms, so called zooplankton, were found to be regularly consuming plastic. In turn, if they are eaten, this transfers the plastic up the food web into larger organisms.
• On a larger scale, a study found that Seabirds had a more than 1-in-5 chance of dying from eating a single piece of plastic.

Plastic pellets, a significant source of plastic pollution along the Gulf Coast, can often transport toxic chemicals they absorb into the organisms that consume them.