Plastic is everywhere—in the water, in the air, in fish and in our bodies. Plastic pollution is threatening bees and human survival. The Plastic Polluton Solution is a guide to controlling plastic pollution, with proposed legislation and a proposed treaty.
• Half of all plastics every made were produced in the past 15 years;
• Production of plastics has increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015.
Every year about eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations.
We are now in the Plastic Age. While stone, bronze and iron are minerals, their use does not significantly adversely affect the environment.
• Plastics often contain additives making them stronger, more flexible, and durable. But many of these additives can extend the life of products if they become litter, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down.
• What happens when a marine animal eats a piece of plastic? The plastic can end up, undigested, in the animal’s belly. This was the case when scientists discovered a dead sperm whale (Physeter macro-cephalus) with 22 kilograms (50 pounds) of plastic of all sizes—from drinking cups to flip-flops—in its stomach. Ingested trash like this can hurt and clog the digestive tract, leaving little room for real food. This can be observed in a great variety of animals, with seabirds particularly affected.
• The average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic a year and breathes in a similar quantity, according to the first study to estimate human ingestion of plastic pollution. The true number of plastic particles eaten by the average person is likely to be many times higher, as only a small number of foods and drinks have been analysed for plastic contam-ination. Scientists have reported that drinking a lot of water from plastic bottles drastically increased the particles consumed.
• The health impacts of ingesting microplastic are unknown, but they could release toxic substances. Some pieces are small enough to penetrate human tissues, where they could trigger immune reactions.
• Microplastic pollution is mostly created by the disintegration of plastic litter and appears to be ubi-quitous across the planet. Researchers have found microplastic particles everywhere they look—in the air, soil, rivers and the deepest oceans around the world.
• Plastics have been detected in tap and bottled water, seafood and beer. They were also found in human stool samples confirming that people ingest the particles.
• The new research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, took the data from 26 previous studies that measure the amounts of microplastic particles in fish, shellfish, sugar, salt, beer and water, as well as in the air in cities. The scientists then used U.S. government dietary guidelines to calculate how many particles people would eat in a year. Adults eat about 50,000 micro-plastic particles a year and children about 40,000, they estimated.
• Scientists have described a new disease called plasticosis, caused by ingesting microplastic par-ticles, in seabirds. Scientists have described a new disease called plasticosis, which is directly caused by plastic waste in the environment.
