Are Microplastics the New Asbestos?

Microplastics – miniscule plastic particles – are found in a wide variety of products. The list is enormous, and includes nearly every product made of plastic. An abbreviated list includes synthetic clothing products (made of polyester or nylon), plastic water bottles, plastic containers, fishing nets, plastic bags, tea bags, cosmetic products, and plastic glitter. An important distinction is between whether the microplastics were deliberately made or decomposed from larger pieces of plastic. Primary microplastics, such as those found in toothpaste, lotion, or cosmetics were purposely manufactured and put into those products. Secondary microplastics, on the other hand, are those that unintentionally break off from large pieces of plastic. There is an important distinction between microplastics and regular plastic, because the former can infiltrate the environment and organisms easily. Microplastics are defined as being under 5 millimeters in width and can even be smaller than a micrometer, which is one one-thousandth of a millimeter in length.

An enormous volume of plastic has been manufactured since the invention of Bakelite, the first plastic, in 1907. Each year, over 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced. Of all plastic produced, 9% has been recycled, 19% incinerated, and 72% in landfills or in the environment. The plastic that ends up in the environment never fully decomposes, instead just being broken down into smaller and smaller pieces. Huge quantities of microplastics infiltrate the environment. Microplastics, by their very nature of being tiny, spread everywhere, carried by wind and water. They’ve been found everywhere researchers have searched for them, from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This full infiltration of the ecosystem means that microplastics get accidentally consumed and absorbed by many creatures. When predators eat them, they get a dose of microplastics. Microplastics travel up the food chain this way, getting increasingly concentrated along the way. Us humans, at the top of the food chain, are thus most susceptible to microplastic contamination. It enters our bodies from the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breath, steadily building up.

And we are extremely contaminated by microplastics. Plastic particles have been found in the blood, in tissue, and even in the placenta and breast milk. Microplastics are passed from mother to child. The negative effects of microplastics are being uncovered with many recent studies. PVC (Polyvinyl chloride, used in pipes, wires, and cables) is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it interferes with hormones. When in the lungs, microplastics can inflame and damage lung tissue, causing shortness of breath, coughing, and sneezing, among other symptoms. Microplastics can clog blood vessels or even the heart, causing cardiac issues. In laboratory tests, microplastics damage the cells themselves, causing them to malfunction. However, much research still needs to be done on the adverse effects of microplastics. It is unclear just how bad high microplastic concentrations are.

Microplastics in the environment is clearly a serious public health issue. The problem is twofold: not only are the effects of microplastics not fully known, but there isn’t a clear solution. There are definitely things that can be done, such as increasing recycling and putting more plastic in landfills, but that does nothing to the plastic already in the environment. Not only is there an enormous amount of it, but microplastics are especially difficult to remove compared to normal plastics. 

There are success stories when it comes to similar problems. Asbestos is a sturdy, flame-resistant material that was used to build houses. Airborne asbestos particles also cause lung cancer and breathing problems, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans over several decades. Researchers recognized the harm from this and laws were passed to prevent deaths from asbestos exposure. Asbestos is no longer allowed as a construction material and old houses still containing asbestos are replaced. Many people were harmed by asbestos, but the problem has largely been solved. The task to deal with microplastics is far more daunting, but there are clear, actionable things that governments, corporations, and individuals can do to begin to help the environment and counter the negative effects of microplastics.

Credit: Environmental Working Group