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A Summary of the Effects of Plastic on Human Health

Author March 06, 2021

 

A Summary of the Effects of Plastic on Human Health

 

Plastic pollution has dramatically hit the headlines in the last few years as we discover how much plastic has invaded our natural resources and ecosystems. It is not surprising that there are harmful effects on human health along with the environmental impacts due to the often toxic component chemicals.

A Summary of the Effects of Plastic on Human Health Plastic pollution has dramatically hit the headlines in the last few years as we discover how much plastic has invaded our natural resources and ecosystems. It is not surprising that there are harmful effects on human health along with the environmental impacts due to the often toxic component chemicals. A comprehensive study from 2019 conducted by the Center for International Environment Law - and other institutions - has shown the many and potentially devastating effects that plastic has on our health. We come into contact with plastics at all stages of its life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials to the production of plastics for consumption and their final disposal. The chemicals and gases produced in these different phases can be inhaled, ingested or come into direct contact with our skin. Substances such as POPs, Benzyne and VOCs are present, all of which have been shown to adversely affect human health. Even products marked as "safe" by food agencies have recently failed rigorous testing - a notable example is a lower quality silicone that e.g. Can produce toxic chemicals at the high heatings that the products may encounter in a kitchen. How does it get into our systems? Extraction of resources for plastics often involves fracking or other invasive processes, and many release a significant amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere or pollute the surrounding environment. At the other end of the plastic cycle, waste management technologies such as incineration, gasification and pyrolysis also release toxic metals such as lead, mercury and acid gases into the surrounding air, soil and water. In its physical form, most of the plastic that is harmful to us is almost invisible to the naked eye. Micro- and nano-plastics are found in a significant part of the test sites, such as in sea salt, rainwater and even mountain peaks - as the plastic evaporates and falls as precipitation with the water molecules. These small particles penetrate the terrestrial and aquatic biobeads and are often ingested by wildlife, eventually bioaccumulating through trophic levels and posing a threat to humans eating seafood. It can take up to 1000 years for some plastic material to decompose: which means that there is an almost constantly changing surface area of ​​new chemicals leaching from the core of each microplastic particle. It is therefore quite likely that humanity will deal with the health and other problems produced by plastic pollution in the coming centuries. Health risks This and several other studies have found causal links between plastic and problems across most of the human body's systems: for example, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, and gastrointestinal systems. Therefore, the health effects are overwhelmingly many. Cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammation and various immune diseases are just a few examples of serious problems potentially caused by plastic and its toxic components. Heavy substances released in the extraction and waste imprisonment processes have been strongly linked to problems in more vulnerable populations, such as children and pregnant women. Drilling and fracturing operations produce chemicals that are known endocrine disruptors, which have enormous negative effects on developmental, immune, neurological and reproductive systems. For pregnant women, such effects on a developing fetus have been shown to increase the likelihood of fetal damage to the brain, heart and / or spine. This study highlights that "uncertainty and knowledge gaps undermine the full evaluation of both acute and long-term health risks at all stages of the plastic life cycle". What is presented by these institutions - and by others of their kind - is an urgent need to conduct further research into the potential health risks of plastic pollution, while in the meantime drastically limiting its production and use. Another important step in the process is to educate the public on these issues so that they can make fully informed lifestyle decisions in the future and limit their exposure to these pervasive, harmful substances.
















A comprehensive study from 2019 conducted by the Center for International Environment Law - and other institutions - has shown the many and potentially devastating effects that plastic has on our health.

 

We come into contact with plastics at all stages of its life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials to the production of plastics for consumption and their final disposal. The chemicals and gases produced in these different phases can be inhaled, ingested or come into direct contact with our skin.

 

Substances such as POPs, Benzyne and VOCs are present, all of which have been shown to adversely affect human health. Even products marked as "safe" by food agencies have recently failed rigorous testing - a notable example is a lower quality silicone that e.g. Can produce toxic chemicals at the high heatings that the products may encounter in a kitchen.

How does it get into our systems?

Extraction of resources for plastics often involves fracking or other invasive processes, and many release a significant amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere or pollute the surrounding environment. At the other end of the plastic cycle, waste management technologies such as incineration, gasification and pyrolysis also release toxic metals such as lead, mercury and acid gases into the surrounding air, soil and water.

 

In its physical form, most of the plastic that is harmful to us is almost invisible to the naked eye. Micro- and nano-plastics are found in a significant part of the test sites, such as in sea salt, rainwater and even mountain peaks - as the plastic evaporates and falls as precipitation with the water molecules.

 

These small particles penetrate the terrestrial and aquatic biobeads and are often ingested by wildlife, eventually bioaccumulating through trophic levels and posing a threat to humans eating seafood. It can take up to 1000 years for some plastic material to decompose: which means that there is an almost constantly changing surface area of ​​new chemicals leaching from the core of each microplastic particle. It is therefore quite likely that humanity will deal with the health and other problems produced by plastic pollution in the coming centuries.

 

Health risks

This and several other studies have found causal links between plastic and problems across most of the human body's systems: for example, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, and gastrointestinal systems. Therefore, the health effects are overwhelmingly many. Cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammation and various immune diseases are just a few examples of serious problems potentially caused by plastic and its toxic components.

 

Heavy substances released in the extraction and waste imprisonment processes have been strongly linked to problems in more vulnerable populations, such as children and pregnant women. Drilling and fracturing operations produce chemicals that are known endocrine disruptors, which have enormous negative effects on developmental, immune, neurological and reproductive systems. For pregnant women, such effects on a developing fetus have been shown to increase the likelihood of fetal damage to the brain, heart and / or spine.

 

This study highlights that "uncertainty and knowledge gaps undermine the full evaluation of both acute and long-term health risks at all stages of the plastic life cycle". What is presented by these institutions - and by others of their kind - is an urgent need to conduct further research into the potential health risks of plastic pollution, while in the meantime drastically limiting its production and use.

 

Another important step in the process is to educate the public on these issues so that they can make fully informed lifestyle decisions in the future and limit their exposure to these pervasive, harmful substances.


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