Plastics hidden in plain sight

WORLD Environment Day (celebrated today) focuses on ending plastic pollution with the hashtag #BeatPlasticPollution.

- LIZE BARCLAY

Plastic pollution is part of what is known as the triple planetary crisis, alongside climate change and the loss of nature, land and biodiversity.

Why is plastic bad?

Plastic pollution is an issue that goes beyond the visible and physical; it is ubiquitous and global. It is simply everywhere. We see plastic bags stuck in the fence next to the road and straws drifting in the water. These are indeed very visible examples of the problem, but we have to start seeing the world and its global environmental systems as forever moving around us and through us. Plastic breaks down into small pieces, known as microplastics, and then into even smaller pieces, known as nanoplastics. Even if we do not see plastic, it should not be out of sight, out of mind. Microand nanoplastics enter and disrupt our water, soil, and food systems. They disrupt food webs, degrades habitats due to their chemical characteristics, cause oxidative stress in plants and animals, reduce animal growth and plant germination, impact endocrine activity, and transfer pathogens which spread disease. As humans, we love bragging about our position at the top of the food chain - yet we absorb the cumulative impacts of microand nanoplastics through our food, air and water.

Although the research around plastics and human health is relatively new, studies have found that microand nanoplastics can cross both the blood-brain and blood-placental barriers. They are also found in human lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, heart and testes. These plastics bio-accumulate in the human brain, and nanoplastics are so small that they are being detected in cells.