Maybe? I’ll be honest. I’ve largely ignored the whole microplastics stuff for a while because it seemed to fit ideally into the space where people get clicks to scare us about the realities of modern living. But, as I’ve been reading more lately, I’m coming around to think, hmmmm, maybe microplastics aren’t so great for humans.
This was an excellent article in the Washington Post (lots of cool visuals, too, so definitely worth a gift link). The emphasis here was on the microplastics we breathe, and ever since I learned about pm 2.5 particles during Covid, yeah, I take this stuff seriously.
For researchers, tracing the impact of microplastics on human health is a daunting task. Each chemical added to plastics, along with each microplastic shape and size, could have a different impact on the body.
“They all have their own little toxic personalities,” Leslie said. “It’s an analytical nightmare.”
But scientists have found some links. In one study in Italy, people with microplastics in the lining of their arteries were more likely to suffer heart attack, stroke or death from any cause. Another report found that people with inflammatory bowel disease had higher concentrations of microplastics in their feces.
In laboratory tests on human cells, microplastics can cause tissue damage, allergic reactions and even cell death. The chemicals in plastics — like phthalates or bisphenol A — have also been shown to cause hormonal imbalances and disrupt the reproductive system. In mice, microplastics can cause behavioral changes and reproductive problems and can inhibit learning and memory. Researchers also recently discovered that certain cancer cells spread at an accelerated rate after exposure to microplastics; they are now looking into whether microplastics could help trigger early-onset cancer.
Kimberly Wise White, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the American Chemistry Council, said in an email that the plastics industry has committed $15 million to research into microplastics. The group is currently investigating inhalation of microplastics and possible toxicities, she added.
Researchers warn that there aren’t yet studies showing a strong causal link between microplastics and a particular disease. People are exposed to myriad chemicals and toxins every day, making it difficult to identify what specific impacts microplastics have on the body. Scientists also still have yet to understand how long microplastics linger in certain organs and the concentration of the chemicals that they carry with them.
Scientists are most concerned about nanoplastics — tiny microplastics that are less than half the size of PM2.5, a form of air pollution that has been shown to cause lung problems, heart disease and premature death.
Until recently, those nanoplastic pieces were invisible with even the most advanced scientific tools. But now, scientists have developed new methods to identify them, which could upend what we know about the amount of particles inhaled or consumed by humans. A recent study found that because of nanoplastics, there are 100 to 1,000 times as many pieces of plastic in a bottle of water as previously thought.
Meanwhile, we’ve known for a while the plastic recycling basically doesn’t work. But now some evidence it may actually be pretty worrisome:
By now, you probably know that plastic recycling is a scam. If not, this white paper lays out the case in devastating detail. To summarise, amid calls to reduce plastic garbage in the 1970s and ’80s, the petrochemical industry put forth recycling as a red herring to create the appearance of a solution while it continued to make as much plastic as it pleased. Multiple paper trails indicate that industry leaders knew from the start that recycling could never work at scale. And indeed, it hasn’t. Only about nine percent of plastic worldwide gets recycled, and the US manages only about six percent.
As bad as this is, the situation might actually be much worse. According to an emerging field of study, the facilities that recycle plastic have been spewing massive amounts of toxins called microplastics into local waterways, soil, and air for decades. In other words, the very industry created to solve the plastic-waste problem has only succeeded in making it worse, possibly exponentially so. While the study that kicked off this new field received some press coverage when it appeared last year, the far-ranging import of its findings has yet to be fully integrated into environmental science. If the research is even close to accurate, and to date it has not been substantively challenged, the implications for waste management policies across the globe will be game-changing.
For a start, no one has fully documented the massive amounts of microplastics (MPs) at issue here. As I’ll demonstrate below, not only do plastic recyclers appear to be a major source of MP contamination, they may very well be the number one source of primary microplastic pollution on the entire planet. So, from an environmental perspective, recycling plastic could be doing far more harm than good. Even some environmentalists are coming around to this view.
Meanwhile, not exactly microplastics, but all this made me think of a recent New Yorker article that was equally compelling and disturbing, “How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals” Here’s ChatGPT’s short summary:
3M’s malfeasance regarding PFOS, a chemical used in products like Scotchgard, involves decades of concealment and misleading practices. Despite discovering as early as the 1970s that PFOS was toxic and accumulated in human bodies, 3M continued its production and dismissed findings that showed widespread contamination. Internal reports acknowledging the chemical’s harm were kept secret, and the company only reported partial information to regulatory agencies like the EPA. This resulted in significant public health risks and environmental pollution, with PFOS linked to various health issues, including cancer and hormonal disruptions. 3M’s actions highlight a severe lack of corporate transparency and accountability, leading to widespread and long-lasting impacts on both human health and the environment.
Ummm… stay safe out there.
Fully Myelinated 
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