The Increasingly Big Problem With Microplastics

While efforts to recycle and reduce materials in landfills are familiar to many, another consequence of our dependence on fossil-fuel-made plastics doesn't get as much attention: microplastics.

These tiny pieces that are less than 5 millimeters across come from eroded plastic and are a growing concern. Some contain chemicals such as bisphenol A or "forever chemicals" used to make the original plastic. Maria Westeros, founder of the Plastic Soup Foundation, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit advocacy organization, told Science Daily, "Microplastics are everywhere, even in our bodies."

Plastic erodes to the fiber level and is sometimes so small it cannot be seen.

Scientists have been studying what remains when plastics disintegrate for nearly a decade, first starting with what we eat from the sea. A 2017 Belgian study evaluated the microplastics in mussels, a favorite dish of northern Europeans. In a 2022 related study, scientists compared the risk of eating mussels with the air quality in an average home.

Volunteers participated in another 2022 study to determine where these ubiquitous particles go in human blood. The quality-controlled measurements of plastic particles supported the researchers' hypothesis that "human exposure to plastics results in absorption of particles in the human bloodstream."

It's not just the fish; we breathe in these microplastics daily, and they show up in our bloodstream, breast milk, clothing and food. A 2023 National Geographic story explained, "People will take in more plastic by inhaling or ingesting tiny, invisible plastic fibers floating around them — fibers shed by their clothes, carpets and upholstery — than by eating the [seafood]."

Particles gather in our noses through breathing. According to one study, researchers at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, compared the rate of breathing with subjects to the size and disposition of particles in the respiratory system.

Lead researcher Suvash Sala noted in a Environmental Advances study, "Experimental evidence was mounting on the significant impact of nano and microplastics on respiratory health."

That is one huge wallop upside the head for anyone concerned about their lungs, especially those with lung and respiratory issues. "Plastic particle air pollution is now pervasive," Sala says, adding, "and inhalation ranks as the second most likely pathway for human exposure."

We've all seen the iconic pictures of a bird caught in the plastic that once covered a six-pack of aluminum cans, the animal destined to live that way forever or die from strangulation. In some ways, humans are like those birds, with specks of microplastics constantly invading our bodies and personal space, and having no hiding place. With 34 million Americans suffering with lung and respiratory problems, this isn't good news.

All plastic pollution is a huge concern for the United Nations, which monitors the problem globally and reports, "Humanity produces more than 430 million tons of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste, filling the oceans and often working their way into the human food chain." And into humans.

Leo Hendrick Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first plastic, in 1907. Considered a miracle to the manufacturing world, this new synthetic substance — made of nothing from nature — could be molded and shaped for various uses. Nearly 120 years later, we've managed to fill our landfills (a word that didn't exist a century ago) with plastic toys from fast food places and numerous other items we invented.

Looking in my recycling bin, I'm horrified at what we buy. With just two of us, we are going for convenience, and that's the wrong approach. One large can of pineapple juice becomes six individual servings. We like different kinds of coffee, so we use K-cups, my husband's breakfast blend, and my caramel. The U.N. noted that 36% of all plastics produced today are used in packaging, and also that 46% of plastic waste is in landfills, while 22% becomes litter. There's no excuse at all for that last statistic.

And with each of those tiny decisions, we contribute to the larger problem, not only erosion to landfill but filling our skies and ground with microplastics.

Wasn't it the late former first lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson who told America in the 1960s how bad it was to be a litterbug? Back then, caring for the environment was called conservation, and Johnson wanted to "Keep America Beautiful" by asking people not to throw trash out on public highways.

To solve today's comprehensive issues, we need more than an advertising campaign. According to The Atlantic, scientists have developed plastic-eating bacteria. The research has several goals: shockingly, one of them is to turn the microbes into a human food source. A second pass through a reactor turns the material into microbes. Scientists have discovered that plastic at this level mimic plant residuals and microbes will eat them. After the microbes eat the deconstructed plastic, the article reports they are dried into a powder that has fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

Currently, there is only a small body of research about these efforts, but scientists say it is feasible that certain microorganisms could be considered safe in the food supply.  More scientists are working on the challenges of degrading plastic for a purpose and reducing the harm of microplastics.

As a baby boomer, I hearken back to a childhood where plastics weren't everywhere. My maternal grandparents had a huge garden, and each summer, my grandmother filled reusable glass Ball jars with canned vegetables. All year, she retrieved filled canning jars from the cellar, a damp, concrete room with a coal shoot from the outside. Rows and rows of corn, tomatoes, green beans and other summer vegetables lined shelves. Only the rubber seals needed replacing; the jars were used year after year.

In my family, canning stopped around the mid-1960s. Grammy and Mom started buying Tupperware and round plastic containers for food storage. Over my lifetime, packaging has changed, improved and multiplied. Would we have made a different choice had we known what our future would be like?

Amy McVay Abbott is a retired healthcare executive who writes about health and aging, caregiving, disability, and occasionally the arts and history. She formerly wrote “A Healthy Way,” syndicated by Senior Wire News Service. Read More