2024 TOP 10 BLOG
Bon Appétit: Regulating the Microplastics You Eat
VJEL Staff Editor: Hanna Walker
Faculty Member: Mia Montoya Hammersley
Background
Plastic is present in nearly every aspect of society, like food packaging, clothing, and cosmetic products. Each year, 400 million metric tons of plastic waste ends up in landfills, oceans, rivers, and shorelines, and scientists expect this number to triple by 2060. Studies estimate that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. With immense amounts of plastic, comes a colossal amount of microplastics that pose health risks to life on Earth. This article focuses on a few recent studies on exposure risks to humans and outlines key political developments in regulating plastic pollution to monitor in 2024.
The mounting ecological and health crises posed by plastic production sparked the United Nations (UN) in 2022 to announce intentions to develop a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution. In November 2023, 150 nations and countless advocate groups met in Kenya to begin negotiation talks. Oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron and oil-rich nations such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, opposed restrictions on new plastic production, arguing that plastic recycling and alternative disposal methods can adequately address the crisis. This stance is unsurprising because over 99% of produced plastic comes from the fossil fuel industry, and in 2023, the global plastic market reached a value of US$712 billion. However, recycling alone is currently insufficient to keep up with the mountainous amounts of plastic that exist today. Only 5-6% of recycled plastic in the United States is converted into new products, underscoring the importance of reducing overall plastic production to effectively address the crisis.
As these UN meetings progress, plastic pollution will remain a forefront issue throughout 2024 as we wait for this new treaty to be finalized. Many people recognize the effects that plastic pollution has on their environment, but not many know of the effects that microplastics have on their health. In recent years, scientists have published more and more studies discussing the effects of microplastics on the human body, which makes the need for a UN plastic treaty even more urgent.
Exposure to Microplastics
Toxic chemicals including “carcinogens, neurotoxicants and endocrine disrupters such as phthalates, bisphenols, [and] per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)” make up plastic. Plastic does not fully decompose—moisture, heat, and light cause it to break down plastic into smaller pieces, known as microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic smaller than five millimeters (approximately the size of a sesame seed), including on the molecular level.
Recent studies reveal that humans are exposed to harmful microplastics through common means that would not make anyone think twice. For example, cutting vegetables on a polypropylene chopping board can result in ingesting about 50 grams of microplastics each year—equivalent to 10 credit cards—due to particles sticking to the food. From the safety of one’s home, humans breathe in approximately 11 microplastic particles per hour, mainly from cotton and paper products. Twisting the cap of a plastic soda bottle releases microplastics into the air, which is ultimately inhaled. In addition, humans ingest microplastics from drinking from plastic bottles. Microplastics enter drinking water mainly from surface run-off and wastewater effluent. A researcher at Penn State found that in a liter of water, bottled water contained 325 plastic particles compared to 5.5 plastic particles in tap water. Studies anticipate people who primarily drink bottled water to ingest 90,000 additional microplastic particles per year. Notably, communities of color are more likely to live where tap water isn’t safe to drink and may rely on bottled water more heavily. Studies have also found microplastics in soft drinks packaged in plastic bottles. These are just some examples of day-to-day activities that result in exposure to microplastics, and plastic-producing industries continue to profit at the expense of human health.
Impact on the Human Body
Scientists estimate that humans ingest up to 5 grams of plastic per week (equivalent to the weight of a credit card), and the effects on human health are still under review. Studies show that microplastics smaller than bacteria “pass from the gut into the blood, and from there into the brain, placenta, liver and other organs.” One study inserted polystyrene plastic into an artificial large intestine and found that the beneficial bacteria within the gut declined while the harmful bacteria rose. Medical practitioners see this fluctuation of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the “global rise” of inflammatory bowel diseases, and microplastics could play a role in the sudden rise. Lastly, another study showed a link between the severity of an individual’s inflammatory bowel disease and the amount of microplastic in their waste.
Microplastics contain harmful chemicals that are known endocrine disrupters. Endocrine disrupters are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s hormones, which can hinder bodily regulatory functions like “growth and development, reproduction, metabolism, sleep, and stress immune response.” Scientists believe that small hormonal changes resulting from low exposures to these disrupting chemicals can significantly affect the human body due to the hormonal system’s sensitivity. Additionally, plastic pollution disproportionately affects people living in communities near plastic production and disposal sites, Indigenous groups, women, children, workers, and racial and ethnic minorities. People residing near these sites have an increased risk of “premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.” Drastic changes are needed to provide protections for communities experiencing disproportionate health impacts from the plastics industry.
Solutions
As evidenced above, microplastics are present in nearly all areas of life. To reduce microplastics, we need to first reduce plastic waste. In addition to the treaty negotiations currently taking place at the international level, there are several domestic efforts to curb plastic waste. For example, in 2015, the public began voicing their concerns about microplastics in cosmetic microbeads and their environmental impact. Subsequently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration enacted the Microbead-Free Waters Act to prohibit the “manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of rinse-off cosmetics containing microbeads.”
More recently, New York State sued PepsiCo in November 2023, arguing that the accumulation of PepsiCo-branded bottles in the Buffalo River is a public nuisance. Plastic in water sources breaks down into microplastics and leeches into the water supply, leading to human ingestion. The New York Attorney General stated that PepsiCo failed to warn consumers about the harmful health effects of plastic pollution and argued that the company should stop selling single-use plastics to protect New Yorkers’ state constitutional right to clean water. This case is one worth following as it unfolds in the upcoming year and perhaps can serve as a model for other states to bring action against giant-polluting companies.
Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution (Draft Strategy) pursuant to the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020. The public comment period closed on June 16, 2023, and the final rule will likely be forthcoming in 2024. The Draft Strategy has three main objectives: first, reduce pollution during plastic production by reducing the use and production of single-use and unrecyclable plastic products; second, enhance management of post-use materials by studying how effective waste-management systems are and the incentives for communities to recycle; and, third, prevent microplastics from entering the waterways and remove trash from the environment by improving waste and water management systems to capture more trash. The Draft Strategy appears to be a promising beginning to curb plastic pollution in the U.S.
Finally, with more education on the harmful effects of microplastics, citizens can advocate for more microplastic regulation and less production. For example, California is the first government in the world to test its water for microplastics. The state defined microplastics as “solid polymetric material to which chemical additives or other substances may have been added” and released standards and requirements for testing. Similarly, states are also releasing their own policies to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are widely-used chemicals that do not break down, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” Everyday items contain PFAS, such as “firefighting foam, non-stick cookware, cosmetics and materials that protect against grease, oil, and water, such as stain-resistant carpeting and fabrics, food packaging, and water-repellant clothing.” Humans unknowingly expose themselves to PFAS when food touches plastic food containers, drinking water, and air. These efforts demonstrate how measures can be taken to regulate a substance that is harmful to human health, despite its ubiquitousness in human life.
Conclusion
Microplastics are invisible to the naked eye, breathed in, and eaten unbeknownst to the consumer; it is time to change and hold petrochemical companies accountable for the harm they have caused to the health of our communities and environment. If plastic production persists, vulnerable communities will bear the ongoing impacts. With 2024 on the horizon, we need to remain proactive and involved in the developments of the UN’s plastic pollution treaty and the EPA’s National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution. Our voices have the power to bring plastic reform to the forefront and force policymakers to create the change we want to see.