Why is plastic an issue for our health? First of all, when plastic leaks into the environment, it breaks down into tiny pieces of plastics called microplastics. These microplastics end up in all the places we depend on: the air we breathe, the soil, the various water sources, and they get passed on to the food we eat.
According to the Plastic Health Coalition, “plastics may affect our health via three pathways:
- We eat, drink and breathe microplastics every day. These small plastic particles may harm our health once they have entered our bodies.
- Plastic products contain chemical additives. A number of these chemicals have been associated with serious health problems such as hormone-related cancers, infertility and neurodevelopment disorders like ADHD and autism.
- When plastics and microplastics end up in the environment, they attract micro-organisms, such as harmful bacteria (pathogens). If microplastics containing these pathogens enter our body, they may increase the risk of infection.
A great resource to get more information on how plastic affects our health, visit The Plastic Health Coalition and check out videos of their 2019 Plastic Health Summit!
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