Plastics: The Two Edge Sword 
Part 1: Microplastics

Written and researched by Joan Farb, League of Women Voters of Bucks County

The prophetic words “The future is plastics” from the 1969 film The Graduate has become our reality. Plastics are ubiquitous in our daily lives. Many personal items that we use like toothpaste, shampoo, and deodorant are encased in plastic.  Our laundry detergents, fabric softeners and other household liquids are in plastic bottles. In addition to bottled water, plastic is used to contain other beverages and prepared foods. And don’t forget those free grocery bags are made from plastic, too. The list could go on and on.

However, there is a downside to this convenient technology. Not as apocalyptic as Ice 9 in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Cat’s Cradle but plastic is found in environments everywhere and can be harmful to our health and to all other living organisms.

Plastics are not biodegradable and only break down into smaller pieces.  The fragments less than 5mm in length are called  microplastics (MPs) . These particles become part of the runoff from landfills and uncollected litter during rainstorms which then enter our waterways and eventually our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, compared to the size of Texas, contains 80% of microplastics from land.  This area has been described as  a microplastic soup since the  size  of the particles have  become so tiny due to photodegradation  that they  are almost invisible  to the naked  eye.  Unfortunately, these microplastic mixtures are found in all other oceans around the world as well.

In addition the California State Policy Evidence Consortium (CalSPEC) ‘s January 2023 report: Microplastics, Occurrences, Health Effects, and Mitigation Policies states that:

There is substantial evidence that microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment. Although research in this arena is nascent, microplastic particles have been found in substantial    concentrations in every environmental compartment where they have been studied: in land, water air; in artic glaciers and deep sea sediment; in plants and animals and -within humans- in blood,  breast milk, digestive tract, lungs and skin.[1]

And, yes, microplastics are in our backyard, too.  In Parks, Bluj and Niles’ 2019 study of the Susquehanna River found that the small mouth bass diet consisted 87.5% of microplastics. The results of this research helped prompt the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to start their own study on microplastics in the Delaware River watershed. The DRBC was started in 1961 “when President Kennedy and the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York for the first time signed concurrent compact legislation into law creating a regional body - the Delaware River Basin Commission - with the force of law to oversee a unified approach to managing a river system without regard to political boundaries.”[2]

The DRBC’s  project focused on where the microplastics were concentrated. Also, their goal was to reduce plastic trash along the river and create public awareness of this issue. In all the samples taken, a substantial amount of MPs were found. The report concluded that it is very important to initiate programs to reduce the microplastics in the watershed since it “is the habitats of many threatened and endangered species and the source for drinking water for  millions”[3] It was also indicated  that the results of the study could be the  basis for further investigations.

Not only are Microplastics an environmental issue but a health one as well. Studies have shown that MP’s have entered our food supply and drinking water and thus are being ingested. e.g.  plastic containers used in microwaves leech MPs. Furthermore, medical researchers have begun to focus on the connection between microplastics  and  colon cancer because production of plastic  products  has  increased exponentially since 1960, and the colon cancer rate for people under 50 has gone up at a parallel rate.  

The microplastic particle surface is hydrophobic or in other words these  fragments do not  dissolve in water. This property allows MPs to bind to toxic bacteria and other hydrophobic compounds some of which can be carcinogenic. Travelling through the digestive tract, these MPs may interact with the colon’s mucus layer and damage its barrier integrity leading to inflammation and disease.

Learn more about plastics at these websites:
LWV of Indiana County Plastics Book  ♦ Beyond Plastics Organization  ♦  Green Blog ♦          Delaware River Basin Commission  ♦ Earth Org  ♦  National Geographic Education for grades 5-12 ♦ NOAA National Ocean Service  ♦  State Impact PA  ♦  Middle Susquehanna RIVERKEEPER  ♦ WebMD: health risks of microplastics ♦  NCEI  Microplastics Database 

Recent research has also indicated that microplastic air pollution exposure  indoors can cause lung damage. Furniture, carpeting, and other materials made from plastics produce MPs from everyday wear and tear. Prolonged exposure can lead to lung disease. MPs disrupt the structure and mobility of the lipid and protein fluid(surfactants) that keep the alveoli functioning properly so that they don’t  collapse.       

“Alveoli are tiny balloon shaped air sacs located at the end of the bronchioles, the branch like tubes in the lungs. The alveoli move oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules into and out of your bloodstream.”[4]  Thus, MPs in your lungs point to a serious health risk.

So, what can we do to mitigate the MPs health and environmental  threat?  Eliminate your use of plastic as much as possible:

• Use your own bag(s) when shopping.
• Switch to products that are packaged in glass, metal or cardboard eg  laundry detergent, shampoo, bottled water and other drinks

Share your insights with your friends, neighbors and family and encourage them to tell others.  It can be a snowball effect leading to change.

Join or create your own environmental group to call, write and petition your local  legislators to ban plastic bags  etc.  Beyond Plastics, a non-profit, started at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, has on-line training and other  resources  to  reduce plastic use in local businesses and other tips https://www.beyondplastics.org/act

Positive action has been already taken in New Jersey,:

Starting May 4, 2022, New Jersey retail stores, grocery stores and food  service businesses may not provide or sell single-use plastic carryout bags and polystyrene foam food service products. Single-use paper carryout bags are allowed to be provided or sold, except by grocery stores equal to or larger than 2500 square feet, which may only provide or sell reusable carryout bags. After November 4, 2021, plastic straws may be provided only upon the request of the customer. [5]

Books on Plastics: 
- A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies
by Matt Simon
- Plastic Unlimited: How Corporations Are Fueling the Ecological Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Alice Mah

Click here for article references.