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microplastics
Scientists Who First Identified Threat of Microplastics Say World Must Now Act
"During the 20 years since our first study, the amount of plastic in our oceans has increased by around 50%, only further emphasizing the pressing need for action," said one leading researcher.
Sep 20, 2024
Some of the key scientists who first informed the world of the potential damage being done to natural systems by microplastics are now calling for world leaders to take decisive action to curb the introduction of these polluting materials into the environment—and they hope the looming United Nations treaty process on plastics can be a key vehicle for progress.
Alongside a new scientific review published cataloging the growing body of research on microplastics—defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters and "composed of polymers together with functional additives as well as other intentionally and unintentionally added chemicals"—the international group of scientists says concerted actions must be taken, including bans on certain materials and a focus on plastic pollution mitigation that puts less emphasis on consumer habits and recycling efforts by keeping microplastics out of the supply chain "in the first place."
According to the abstract of the review, published Thursday in the journal Science:
Twenty years after the first publication using the term microplastics, we review current understanding, refine definitions and consider future prospects. Microplastics arise from multiple sources including tires, textiles, cosmetics, paint and the fragmentation of larger items. They are widely distributed throughout the natural environment with evidence of harm at multiple levels of biological organization. They are pervasive in food and drink and have been detected throughout the human body, with emerging evidence of negative effects. Environmental contamination could double by 2040 and widescale harm has been predicted. Public concern is increasing and diverse measures to address microplastics pollution are being considered in international negotiations. Clear evidence on the efficacy of potential solutions is now needed to address the issue and to minimize the risks of unintended consequences.
Professor Richard Thompson of Plymouth University, who co-authored that first scientific study and coined the term microplastics just two decades years ago, says researchers now have more than enough evidence to show world leaders that serious action must be taken to curb the use of plastics, with special attention to the minuscule and microscopic forms of the material that are increasingly being found polluting ecosystems—both on land as well as in the sea—and embedded within living organisms, including humans.
"There are still unknowns, but during the 20 years since our first study, the amount of plastic in our oceans has increased by around 50%, only further emphasizing the pressing need for action," Thompson said in a statement put out by Plymouth.
In the statement, the university noted:
Since the publication of the first study in 2004, an estimated 7,000 research studies have been conducted on microplastics, providing considerable evidence in their sources and impacts as well as potential solutions.
Microplastics have been found on every corner of the planet, in more than 1,300 aquatic and terrestrial species, in the food and drink we consume, and in multiple tissues and organs of the human body.
With emissions of microplastics to the environment estimated to be up to 40 megatons per year, a number that could double by 2040, predictions indicate the potential for widescale environmental harm moving into the next century.
The research details how microplastics demand an international response due to their transitory nature. While they enter the environment in various ways—whether from direct release as fibers into the air from textiles or dust, discharged through water systems via runoff or sewage drains, or via breakdown or fragmentation—once discarded, the study says, "microplastics can travel far from their point of entry and are not constrained by national boundaries highlighting the importance of actions at a global level."
Professor Sabine Pahl, who teaches Urban and Environmental Psychology at the University of Vienna and is an honorary professor at the University of Plymouth, said, "Plastic pollution is completely caused by human actions. That's why we need research on perceptions of risks and benefits of plastic as well as other drivers of policy support and change, integrating a social science perspective."
With the next round of talks in the UN's Plastic Pollution Treaty set for November, the researchers said the negotiations offer a "tangible opportunity" for nations to act on this issue. "In our view," they wrote, "science will be just as important guiding the way toward solutions as it has been in identifying the problems."
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Why Is the FDA Downplaying the Risk of Microplastics From Food Packaging?
The agency charged with keeping our food safe doesn’t think microplastics in food are a big deal, and claims they are probably coming from the food rather than the plastic it’s packaged in.
Sep 11, 2024
The Food and Drug Administration has entered the plastic pollution fray. This summer the agency published a web page ostensibly meant to calm consumers’ nerves about the recent spate of reporting on microplastic contamination. Despite the FDA’s clout, the publication relies on hand-waving and empty reassurances, which do nothing to instill trust in the agency charged with keeping our food supply safe.
Microplastics seem to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. Sadly, tongues aren’t the only place researchers find microplastics in our bodies. The minuscule plastic particles have now been found in our blood, testes, and placentas. This came after researchers first established microplastics are present in every place they’ve looked, from the soil to Mount Everest. What’s next, tiny plastic particles passing through our blood-brain barriers?
It’s worth taking stock of how we got to this point of such widespread contamination. Every single thing made of plastic eventually breaks down. This happens due to environmental conditions such as friction, heat, and exposure to light. In the process, tiny plastic particles enter the environment and then degrade into smaller and smaller particles, with no end to the process. Plastic objects become microplastics, which eventually become nanoplastics. Each degradation stage makes it easier for the contaminants to enter our bodies, where they may release the chemicals used to make them. Nearly all plastic is made from oil and gas and then processed with myriad other chemicals—many dangerous toxicants or undisclosed. Research and testing have shown that some chemical additives and processing aids are likely leaching out of plastic food packaging.
Currently, the FDA should be using its full regulatory authority to combat the crisis of microplastics and nanoplastics in our food supply.
Plastic is a ubiquitous food packaging material, so it would seem logical to think that plastic packaging releases microplastics into the foods and beverages packaged within and into the outside environment. And some researchers have documented just that. However, the FDA makes the astounding claim that the microplastics and nanoplastics found in food are most likely from “environmental contamination where foods are grown or raised,” but not from food packaging. The agency claims to make this leap from logic due to insufficient evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics are migrating from plastic food packaging into food. Yet, evidence is beginning to surface, so why is the FDA confusing consumers about microplastics? Researchers tested bottled water for microplastics and found that their data shows contamination is likely coming in part “from the packaging and/or bottling process.” Others found a relationship between plastic bottle density and the pH of packaged mineral water with the amount of microplastic contamination found in the packaged waters.
Discounting plastic food packaging as a source of microplastic contamination is a stretch when we know that everything made of plastic degrades. It’s far more likely that the microplastics found in food came from various sources, including packaging, the food itself, the soil in which it was grown, and food processing equipment. The bigger remaining question is precisely what contamination is doing to our bodies. Researchers are beginning to scratch the surface of that question, and the results are problematic. Recent publications show that breathing microplastics into our lungs may be affecting respiratory systems, and microplastics that cross the blood-brain barrier could impact our behavior. We can expect many more headlines about microplastics and our health in the next few years.
By sounding so certain that food packaging is not a source of microplastics and nanoplastics, the FDA may be misleading and confusing consumers just because the number of studies showing evidence of microplastic migration is thin. A lack of evidence due to the developing nature of this research does not assure us there is no evidence waiting to be found. Unfortunately, this see-no-evil approach is precisely how chemical management happens in the U.S.; new chemicals are created and sold without safety testing.
We are witnessing the early stages of a widespread contamination moment, where communities begin to recognize what is happening, and decision-makers are expected to address concerns meaningfully. Currently, the FDA should be using its full regulatory authority to combat the crisis of microplastics and nanoplastics in our food supply. This problem will get bigger before it gets better due to the massive volume of plastics already in the world and because plastic is currently being made in greater and greater quantities. All the more reason for us to turn off the petrochemical plastics tap as much as we can, for instance, by stemming the widespread manufacture and use of single-use plastics that we lived without just a decade or two ago.
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How Changing Your Daily Coffee Habits Can Make a Difference This Plastic-Free July
Join the global social movement helping millions of people around the world reduce their plastic waste by choosing to refuse single-use items like disposable cups.
Jul 25, 2024
Whether you’re reading this article at home, work, or on the go, there’s a good chance you’re one of the billions of people worldwide who will the enjoy the pleasure of having someone else make your coffee today. To say we are a society powered by coffee is not an overstatement. An estimated 500 billion disposable coffee cups are produced globally each year.
That our takeaway coffee habit served in a disposable cup has become one of the number one single-use items we throw away says a lot about our culture and choices. Originally made from Styrofoam and other petroleum-based plastics, single-use cups are increasingly made from paper but lined with a thin layer of plastic to prevent the liquid seeping out and served with a plastic lid. Unfortunately, even these paper cups are not readily recycled, most are landfilled and some are littered, breaking up into microplastics that cause lasting harm to wildlife and marine ecosystems. Without systems to collect and process even paper-based packaging, they aren’t a sustainable solution either.
This July millions of people around the world are making different choices from drinking their coffee in disposable cups, and many more choices besides! Together, these choices are adding up to make a big difference. This month it’s Plastic-Free July, the global social movement helping millions of people around the world reduce their plastic waste by choosing to refuse single-use plastic.
After all this isn’t really a problem we are leaving behind. Much of this single-use plastic will outlive us all. It is a problem we are leaving forward.
Despite the name, this campaign isn’t about being completely plastic free. It is about making small changes, simply choosing to refuse the single-use plastics we find in our daily lives. Whether that’s taking a reusable cup for a takeaway coffee (or dining in), remembering reusable shopping bags or water bottles, choosing loose produce, or skipping the plastic straw, small steps do make a big difference.
From 40 people in Perth Australia who joined me when I started Plastic-Free July in 2011, now hundreds of millions of people from over 190 countries have taken part in our global social movement by choosing to refuse single-use plastic. We know that people don’t just make change in July—our research shows 87% of participants make changes that become habits and a way of life. Over the last five years, Plastic-Free July participants have together avoided 10 billion kilograms of household waste, more than the world’s biggest cleanups combined!
From schools in Nepal to California, community groups in Kenya to New Zealand, and companies like NASA and Harrods, people are taking action. Cafes, councils, NGOs, and even the State of New York have embraced reuse and refill schemes, changed packaging, and shifted to plastic-free options.
It has become increasingly clear that we can’t recycle our way out of the plastic pollution problem. Plastic waste is projected to double and plastic pollution in the ocean will almost triple by 2040. Despite our best efforts, we have only managed to recycle 9% of all the plastic ever made. That is why we advocate for reducing plastic at the source, turning off the “plastics tap.” By using less (through refusing, reducing, and reusing) we are also decreasing the resources required to make new products, from extraction of natural resources (whether that’s the fossil fuels used to make plastic or the harvesting of trees required for paper-based packaging) to the resources required for manufacture, transport, and disposal.
Studies show taking action to reduce waste can also increases well-being and community connections. It turns out that being mindful of our consumption and taking steps for a cleaner environment—such as sitting for a few minutes to smell and enjoy our coffee made from beans grown in Brazil or Columbia and carefully brewed by a barista rather than scrolling through our phones while we wait and then juggling a cup as we rush to the next thing—can also be good for us. On my walk this morning as I saw people with their takeaway coffees, I couldn’t help wondering how carrying around this special beverage in a piece of landfill has become normal?
As I’ve worked on the plastic problem over the last 14 years, I’ve seen how change that happens at an individual and community level can make a difference. Actions can speak louder than words as behaviours spread and change culture, and go on to influence business and governments. In November 2024, United Nations member states will gather in Busan, South Korea for the final round of negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
In the face of the scale and complexity of this problem, changing our coffee habits by switching to reusables is a very small step, but all change has to start somewhere and we can all make small changes. Together we could reduce the 500 billion single-use cups we are leaving in landfills or littering every year and reconsider our wasteful habits. Not sure how to get started? Why not join thousands of people this year making a Plastic-Free Pledge and sharing it online with colleagues friends and family. Simply download a pledge card, take a photo, and share online—this will help inspire others to make a difference too.
After all this isn’t really a problem we are leaving behind. Much of this single-use plastic will outlive us all. It is a problem we are leaving forward. Facing our consumption is an uncomfortable truth, but unless we act now, the buildup of plastic pollution will be increasingly uncomfortable for future generations.
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