By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024) 

Simple Acts:  Join us for Pulse of Earth Day April 22 at 5:30 MDT 

The Earth Day theme this year is Planet vs Plastic. The risk of microplastics to everyone’s health is alarming. This month’s ESD article will be sharing the extensive research byEARTHDAY.ORG. 

“Our reliance on plastics could be the biggest gamble in the story of human health, in history.  We are all ingesting and inhaling microplastics. They are everywhere. Are we just hoping they are safe, or is even the remotest possibility they might be toxic so terrifying, that we can’t contemplate it?” Kathleen Rogers, President, EARTHDAY.ORG 

Microplastics are a derivative of the combination of petroleum and over 10,000 chemical additives used to manufacture plastics. These tiny filaments of plastic- microplastics- are in our food (February BPW ESD newsletter article), the air we breathe, inside our homes, the water we drink, our clothes, in our soaps and toiletries, vitamin and medicine capsules, to name a few. There is a frightening in-depth study out, Babies vs Plastics, demonstrating that microplastics in babies’ feces is 10 times higher than that of adults. 90% of toys are made of plastic, and baby bottles, sippy cups, utensils, clothing are all made of plastic. 

Microplastics have been found to bioaccumulate in our major organs like the brain, kidney and liver, lung and heart tissue, urinary and gastrointestinal systems, and also in placentas and breast milk. Recent studies link diseases of the endocrine system and central nervous system including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Type 2 diabetes, infertility, and Parkinson’s to microplastics. Microwave heating in plastic containers releases the highest level of microplastics and nano-plastics, more than 4 million microplastics into a small bowl after 3 minutes of heating. 

Oil-based plastics make up 69% of the fabrics we wear, such as polyurethane, nylon, spandex.  The convenience of these synthetic materials is that they dry quickly, don’t need to be ironed and are water resistant. Every time we wash these synthetic textiles, they release thousands of microplastics into our water depositing 500,000 tons of microplastics into our oceans annually.  Of all the plastics we hear about polluting our oceans, synthetic clothing is responsible for 35%. 

While extremely harmful leads are being globally phased out, plastic production is increasing with over 390 million tons of plastic produced in 2021, doubling in the past 20 years. 99% of plastic is derived from petroleum. As we work to phase out the use of gas, oil and coal, the fossil fuel companies are rapidly increasing the production of plastics. 

How do we solve this microplastic problem?“Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.” Commission on Plastics and Human Health. 

1. EARTHDAY.ORG is asking that the Global Plastics Treaty, draft completion due December 2024, to include a call for 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040.  Currently this Treaty is addressing only plastic pollution. 

2. Science and industry are developing biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates and myceliumcomposite materials (grown on a mixture of sawdust and wheat bran). 

3. Greenwashing is a term with which we are all familiar. Only 9% of plastic waste is recycled despite the plastic industry’s misleading campaign that mass-scale recycling is ongoing. Because of the many different types of plastic, it is impossible to recycle plastic in one process like paper. Sorting and melting down plastic is energy intensive, emitting hazardous chemicals, using large amounts of water, and releasing microplastics directly into waterways. Recycled plastic costs more to produce than virgin plastic making it not cost effective. 

4. Legislative action against the use of single-use plastics needs to be top of list.