<
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/article/2024/jul/09/microplastics-health-crisis>
"Plastic is everywhere, including our bodies. This year, various researchers
found microplastics in every sample of placental tissue they tested; in human
arteries, where plastics correlate with increased risk of heart attacks and
strokes; in all 27 of the human testes they studied; and the semen of 40
otherwise healthy patients, adding to concerns that plastics – many of which
contain hormone-disrupting chemicals – may be contributing to a global decline
in sperm health.
These recent discoveries add to the rapidly mounting evidence of plastic’s
ubiquity and our growing understanding of the health risks it poses.
It is increasingly apparent that we are in a plastic health crisis. Industry
profits from products that are not safe, passing these health and economic
burdens on to the public and governments. The 2023 Minderoo-Monaco Commission
on Plastics and Human Health estimated that the costs of disease, disability
and premature death caused by exposure to the chemicals BPA, DEHP and PBDE
exceeded $675bn in 2015 in the US alone. A report from the University of
Birmingham this month further links microplastics, inflammation and
noncommunicable diseases.
Yet some researchers say we are actually in “the lull” before this crisis
begins in earnest. In a 2024 research review about the implications of
increasing microplastic pollution, the authors write “the widespread outbreak
of [microplastic] pollution has not yet occurred”.
The currently detectable levels of microplastic pollution are “likely just the
beginning”, the authors write, in part because plastic production has
dramatically accelerated since the 1970s. We’re approaching a tipping point
because much of the plastic waste from 20 to 40 years ago is crumbling to
micro-scale.
While plastics may take over a thousand years to break down completely, they
can become micro-particles much sooner. For example, opening a bottle cap can
release microplastics immediately, and many forms of plastic begin degrading
into micro-particles within decades or even years under certain conditions.
Despite a potential surge in environmental and health issues related to
microplastics, we haven’t yet started reining the problem in. Global plastic
production doubled from around 230m tons annually in 2000 to 460m tons in 2019,
and is expected to double again by 2040.
The prognosis may be dire, but experts believe there are ambitious, urgent and
effective ways to begin mitigating the wide-ranging harms caused by plastics.
Here’s what they say."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
