April
22, 2024
“How
much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma’am?” While that may
seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is
showing it’s much too close to reality.
Ninety
percent of animal and vegetable protein samples tested positive for
microplastics, teeny polymer fragments that can range from less than 0.2 inch
(5 millimeters) down to 1/25,000th of an inch (1 micrometer), according to a
February 2024 study. Anything smaller than 1 micrometer is a nanoplastic that
must be measured in billionths of a meter.
Even
vegetarians can’t escape, according to a 2021 study. If the plastic is small
enough, fruits and vegetables can absorb microplastics through their root
systems and transfer those chemical bits to the plant’s stems, leaves, seeds
and fruit.
Salt
can be packed with plastic. A 2023 study found coarse Himalayan pink salt mined
from the ground had the most microplastics, followed by black salt and marine
salt. Sugar is also “an important route of human exposure to these
micropollutants,” according to a 2022 study.
Even
tea bags, many of which are made of plastic, can release enormous amounts of
plastic. Researchers at McGill University in Quebec, Canada found brewing a
single plastic teabag released about 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion
nanoplastic particles into the water.
Rice
is also a culprit. A University of Queensland study found that for every 100
grams (1/2 cup) of rice people eat, they consume three to four milligrams of
plastic — the number jumps to 13 milligrams per serving for instant rice. (You
can reduce plastic contamination by up to 40% by washing rice, researchers
said. That also helps reduce arsenic, which can be high in rice.)
Let’s
not forget bottled water. One liter of water — the equivalent of two
standard-size bottled waters — contained an average of 240,000 plastic
particles from seven types of plastics, including nanoplastics, according to a
March 2024 study.
Dangers
to human health
While
microplastics have been found in the human lung, maternal and fetal placental
tissues, human breast milk and human blood, until recently there was very
little research on how these polymers affect the body’s organs and functions.
A
March 2024 study found people with microplastics or nanoplastics in arteries in
the neck were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from any
cause over the next three years than people who had none.
Nanoplastics
are the most worrisome type of plastic pollution for human health, experts say.
That’s because the minuscule particles can invade individual cells and tissues
in major organs, potentially interrupting cellular processes and depositing
endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, flame
retardants, per- and polyfluorinated substances, or PFAS, and heavy metals.
“All
of those chemicals are used in the manufacturing of plastic, so if a plastic
makes its way into us, it’s carrying those chemicals with it,” Sherri “Sam”
Mason, director of sustainability at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania,
told CNN in a prior interview.
“And
because the temperature of the body is higher than the outside, those chemicals
are going to migrate out of that plastic and end up in our body,” Mason said.
“Those
chemicals can be carried to your liver and your kidney and your brain and even
make their way across the placental boundary and end up in an unborn child,”
she said.
“There
currently is no scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of nano-
and microplastic particles. Therefore, media reports based on assumptions and
conjecture do nothing more than unnecessarily scare the public,” a spokesperson
for the International Bottled Water Association, an industry association, told
CNN previously.
All
types of proteins contained microplastics
In
the February study, which was published in Environmental Research, researchers
looked at over a dozen commonly consumed proteins, including beef, breaded and
other types of shrimp, chicken breasts and nuggets, pork, seafood, tofu and
several plant-based meat alternatives, such as nuggets, plant crumbles similar
to ground beef and plant-based fish sticks.
Breaded
shrimp contained the most tiny plastics by far, at well over an average of 300
microplastic pieces per serving. Plant-based nuggets came in second, at under
100 pieces per serving, followed by chicken nuggets, pollock fish sticks,
minimally processed White Gulf shrimp, fresh caught Key West pink shrimp and a
plant-based fish-like stick.
The
least contaminated proteins were chicken breasts, followed by pork loin chops
and tofu.
After
comparing the results to consumer consumption data, researchers estimated the
average exposure of American adults to microplastics could range between 11,000
and 29,000 particles a year, with a maximum estimated exposure of 3.8 million
microplastics per year.
Fruits
and vegetables tested high in plastics
The
oceans are filled with plastics, and a number of studies have captured how
those are ending up in the seafood we eat. However, fewer studies have looked
at vegetables and land animal proteins, such as cattle and hogs, according to
an August 2020 study.
The
study, published in Environmental Science, found between 52,050 and 233,000
plastic particles under 10 micrometers — each micrometer is about the diameter
of a rain drop — in a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Apples
and carrots were the most contaminated fruit and vegetable, respectively, with
over 100,000 microplastics per gram. The smallest particles were found in
carrots, while the largest pieces of plastic were found in lettuce, which was
also the least contaminated vegetable.
Plastics
are everywhere
There
are a staggering number of plastics in the world, today, according to a recent
analysis — 16,000 plastic chemicals, with at least 4,200 of those considered to
be “highly hazardous” to human health and the environment.
As
these chemicals break down in the environment, they can turn into microplastics
and then nanoplastics, particles so small science struggled for decades to see
them.
A
recent study that utilized brand new technology found the number of
nanoplastics in three popular brands of water sold in the United States to be
in between 110,000 and 370,000 per liter, if not higher. A liter is the
equivalent of about two 16 ounce bottled waters. (The authors declined to
mention which brands of bottled water they studied.)
Prior
research using older technology had identified only about 300 nanoplastics in
bottled water, along with bigger microplastics.
Ways
to reduce plastic
The
levels of contamination found in bottled water reinforce long-held expert
advice to drink tap water from glass or stainless steel containers to reduce
exposure, Mason said. That advice extends to other foods and drinks packaged in
plastic as well, she added.
“People
don’t think of plastics as shedding but they do,” she said. “In almost the same
way we’re constantly shedding skin cells, plastics are constantly shedding
little bits that break off, such as when you open that plastic container for
your store-bought salad or a cheese that’s wrapped in plastic.”
While
science learns more about the plastics we consume, there are things people can
do to reduce their exposure, according to experts.
·
Try to avoid eating anything that has been stored in a plastic container. Look
for food stored in glass, enamel or foil.
·
Wear clothing made from natural fabrics and buy consumer products made from
natural materials.
·
Don’t microwave in plastic. Instead, heat food on the stove or by microwaving
in glass.
·
If you can, eat as much fresh food as possible, and limit purchase of processed
and ultraprocessed foods wrapped in plastic.
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