You cannot avoid it, whether you like it or not. Each and every individual on the planet uses plastic on a daily basis. No, Divyanshu. You can't be correct, can you? I never use plastic in my daily activities; I only use paper bags to carry my groceries and clay mugs to drink my coffee. Okay, but do you use a toothbrush to brush your teeth? You are using plastic if the answer is yes. Do you also use a pen? You're utilising plastic once more. The last query is, do you consume water? You're utilising plastic once more. Whatever you do, plastic will not let you go. Globally, 35 kg of this robust and lightweight material are utilised per person per year.
Amazing, huh? What if I told you that you consume 120 to 130 or more microplastic particles every day? Don't worry, my friend; I have all of your questions covered. I know you will have a tonne of questions right now. I'll do my best to respond to any questions you might have about microplastic and explain why the issue is not at all little. Let's first clarify what this content is.
What is Microplastic?
One kilogramme of plastic takes over 3 billion years to completely decompose, making plastic virtually indestructible. In reality, plastic never breaks down into microplastic simple molecules. Simply breaking up into tiny fragments, plastic floats freely in our surroundings. These tiny particles are known as microplastic because they can only be seen under a microscope. Microplastic is present in everything, including your food, beverages, and even the air you breathe. The governments did little to address the microplastic issue until 1990! Prior to that, it was completely allowed to throw plastic debris into the ocean, which had a negative impact on our aquatic life. Few rubbish islands have arisen over some waterbodies as a result of years of exploitation. They are not a garbage-filled island, no. The entire country is made up of trash and other waste that we have been dumping into the oceans for years. Governments all across the world are taking action to address these problems, but the harm has already been done and recovery will take time.
Micro plastic in Humans
Every single thing we eat and drink contains some microplastic, and the average person consumes between 120 and 130 bits of it each day. Every time, the average person breathes, eats, and drinks between microplastic patches, and even that is thought to be an underrate.
An investigation by Cox et al. titled “Mortal Consumption of Microplastics” that was published in Environmental Science & Technology analyses 26 studies from around the world and determines the average amount of microplastic plants in everyday products.
Our infographic demonstrates that bottled water is the primary known source of microplastic that enters our bodies. Based on four distinct studies, there are 94 patches on average per litre. Beer has the second-highest number, 32, but it's the third spot that can cause the greatest concern.
Based on two studies conducted in France and Turkey, the average number of patches per cubic metre of air that humans breathe is 9.80. For reference, the EPA's Exposure Factors Text states that an individual between the ages of 31 and 51 typically inhales 16 m3 of air each day. Let's get into more detail about these sources:
Micro plastic in Food
Many foods include microplastic, and when we eat them, they enter our bodies and accumulate in our bloodstream along with WBC. We'll talk about the foods that have the most microplastic in them:
Tea bags made of microplastic – McGill University researchers claim that when you steep a tea bag in hot water, you unintentionally introduce at least 3 billion microplastic particles into your beverage. However, there is a straightforward fix for tea: switch from using teabags to loose leaf tea.
As a frequent cook who uses salt in everything, I was horrified to find that there was microplastic in salt. According to a research, 90% of salt brands from around the world include microplastics, and 1 kg of salt has been shown to contain approximately 600 microplastic particles. Simply from consuming salt, you are introducing at least 2000 microscopic pieces of plastic into your body. You can start utilising rock salt or pink himalayan salt to solve this issue, but make sure they are not packaged in plastic bags.
What could be better on a hot, sunny day than a chilled beer can? Microplastic in Beer Are you aware that drinking beer causes internal death? Beer has the largest concentration of microplastic of any cold beverage, aside from the obvious negative effects alcohol has on your health. At least 400 microplastic particles are present in one litre of beer. Beer uses water from the Great Lakes, which is where the majority of its plastic originates from. Well, you may prevent this by visiting a nearby brewery and asking them what kind of water they use. If you are not comfortable with their responses, attempt to limit your consumption of beer.
Any consumable that involves water has a significant proportion of microplastic since our water bodies have been so heavily contaminated by plastic. The worst type of water to drink if you want to prevent microplastic is packed drinking water because the plastic bottle only makes the problem worse. How do you get around it? Avoid using water bottles made of plastic. Use a steel one instead. Avoid storing water in plastic bottles and boil any water before drinking.
The list would never end if I started talking about all the foods that contain microplastic. I just talked about the meals that are more popular, consumed widely, and actually necessary in every family (Except beer, obviously).
Microplastic in Oceans
Since the beginning of my blog, I have consistently emphasised how our seas have suffered the most from plastic pollution, which eventually has an impact on marine life and aquatic species. How does this effect us, you ask? Let's talk about it in depth:
Microplastic in Fish and Seafood
Plastic that is dumped into the water is eaten by up to 300 different species of fish, and because it is consumed by other animals, it can even go up the food chain. We humans start the cycle, and we humans bring it to an end. The cycle continues as we put plastic into the ocean, where it is eaten by smaller fish, which are then eaten by bigger fish, which are then eaten by us humans. If you want to continue eating seafood but avoiding microplastic, choose crustaceans. Even if these crustaceans do contain some microplastic, they have much less than typical seafood. Therefore, the next time, order some crab cakes rather than fish and chips.
Sea Salt
We are aware that plastic is a material that does not degrade; rather, it simply fragments into tiny bits and persists in our environment forever. Therefore, it makes sense that when we eat sea salt, we are also consuming microplastic. As you can see, microplastic is invisible to the unaided eye. Therefore, no matter how careful the factories are, they are still offering us sea salt with microplastic, and the only way to consume sea salt without any concerns is to never consume sea salt. Choose Himalayan pink salt or rock salt as an alternative.
Microplastic in Air
We can stay away from food that has microplastic in it. Water that contains such substances can likewise be avoided, but what about air? Does air include microplastics as well? Yes, the largest source of microplastic is the air. According to experts, microplastic can be found in isolated regions like the Arctic as well as in large cities like Paris and London. It is abundantly obvious that airborne microplastic is a worldwide issue. Although experts are currently investigating the negative consequences of this microplastic on our health, some argue that these particles cause cancer and skin degradation as well as breathing issues.
During numerous studies, human lungs have been examined, and fibres and strings of microplastic are frequently found there. So what is the answer? Sadly, there isn't a way out of this. The solution to this issue's prevention cannot be found by cleaning up the minute plastic particles in our air.
The only obvious options are recycling and reducing plastic manufacture. It is thought that the microplastic present in our atmosphere now was first utilised by people in the year 1990. Today's manufacturing of plastic has nearly tripled. As a result, we are unsure of how much microplastic may soon pollute our air.
Conclusion
Consumption of microplastics can be managed while being extremely impossible to avoid. We cannot prevent ourselves from breathing plastic, but we may limit the amount of plastic we absorb through our food and air by not using plastic cups, bags, or water bottles. While consuming plastic, we are unaware of its negative impacts, yet research indicates that microplastic is negatively impacting not only our environment but also our health in some way. Because of our long history of using plastic, our environment has suffered numerous irreparable harms. I beg you to stay as far away from plastic as you can, in the hopes that our future will be better than our present, since “if you won't buy it, the companies won't produce it.”
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Microplastic, what is microplastic, microplastic in humans
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