By David Okul
What are microplastics?
Microplastics are minute plastic particles that originate from the breakdown of large plastics. These particles can also arise from commercial and industrial product development. Nevertheless, microplastics’ effects on human health are largely unknown.
Microplastics aren’t a particular type of plastic. Instead, these particles are in the form of plastic fragments that don’t exceed 5 millimeters in length. They enter ecosystems from various sources, including clothing, industrial processes, and cosmetics. There are two major categories of microplastics. They include primary and secondary microplastics (we will talk about them later). These particles are prevalent in the environment at remarkably high levels, particularly in marine and aquatic ecosystems.
Like plastics, microplastics degrade rather slowly. They can take thousands of years to degrade. This slow rate increases their chances of being indigested by organisms. Once ingested, they accumulate in the bodies and organs of various species. Microplastics are quite stubborn and thus difficult to remove from the ecosystems. Once washed down a drain, wastewater treatment does not eliminate them. They spread rapidly across the oceans.
Some of the toxic chemicals in microplastics include dioxin, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
Secondary and primary microplastics
As stated, microplastics exist in two categories. Primary microplastics are largely manufactured as capsules, microbeads, pellets, and fibers. A classic example of these microplastics includes the microbeads used in the manufacturing of personal care products and cosmetics. Other types of primary microplastics include the textile industry’s microfibers, industrial scrubbers utilized for abrasive cleaning, and the resin pellets used in the manufacturing of plastic.
Secondary microplastics are derived from the breakdown of larger parts of plastics. The prolonged exposure to sunlight makes it possible for plastic to fragment into smaller pieces.
Are microplastics dangerous to humans?
Plastic waste accounts for millions of metric tons of waste disposed of in oceans annually. This plastic waste breaks down and becomes microplastics in the long-run. Some of the marine animals that humans consume, such as fish, have extreme amounts of microplastics.
Although the health impacts of microplastics are unknown, the toxic chemicals in these particles can be dangerous to humans. In regards to human health, microplastics’ main concern is the high levels of carcinogenic chemicals and toxins they introduce to the human body. Some potentially harmful chemicals in microplastics have been found in humans and other animal species, including birds and a variety of marine species.
Research on the marine species in the Pacific Ocean shows that 25% of the fish spices have microplastics. When people eat the fish, they pose a severe dietary risk thanks to the contaminants associated with them. Away from marine species, microplastics are also prevalent in household dust and air. As such, humans are likely to breathe them on an everyday basis. Exposure to such contaminants can lead to a host of diseases. For instance, some microplastics have plentiful of chemicals believed to ruin the respiratory system when they come into contact with humans.
In a nutshell, microplastics may be dangerous to human beings since the chemicals and toxins in them can impact human health adversely. Nonetheless, scientists need to conduct extensive research to point out the specific implications that these particles have on humans.
What are some of the potential health effects of microplastics?
The severity of the health effects of microplastics depends on the levels of toxins in the microplastics that humans are exposed to. While microplastics’ health effects aren’t documented, preliminary research shows that these tiny particles have several potentially harmful effects on humans.
For instance, microplastics are associated with increased inflammatory response. This response can lead to inflammation and a host of inflammatory ailments. Mammalian systems modeling insinuate that some microplastics can replicate across living cells, eventually accumulating in organs. These particles can, after that, affect cell health and further impact the immune system. Scientists recently observed that microplastics could aggravate inflammation in the tissues. In their high levels, they can cause necrosis and cellular proliferation.
Prolonged exposure to microplastics and the harmful chemicals contained in them can affect biological systems. A recent study has linked microplastics with multiple conditions and diseases such as hormonal cancers, metabolic disorders, asthma, reproductive problems, and neurodevelopment conditions like autism, learning disorders, and spectrum disorders.
To understand the scope of the severity that microplastics have on human health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for additional research into these tiny plastic particles. According to the global health body, research will help unearth the specific implications that microplastics have on human health.
Products that contain microplastics
The vast number of products that humans use on an everyday basis contain microplastics. These harmful environmental particles are also present in foods that humans consume daily. Below are some of the products that are plentiful with microplastics.
- Personal care products-microplastics have already been detected in some everyday personal care products, including soaps, sprays, body oils, toothpaste, and facial cleansers.
- Tires- tires contain about 60% of plastic. Pressure, heat, and friction wear tires down to an extent whereby they produce plastic dust. Once this dust has been washed into the rivers, drains, and oceans, it is consumed by fish alongside other marine species hence gaining a freeway into the food chain.
- Synthetic clothing-synthetic clothing is derived from polyester, nylon, and spandex, all of which shed thousands of microfibers with every wash. Once the water is contaminated with these microfibers, it is difficult to filter them out.
- Wet wipes-hand wipes, baby wipes, and other types of wet wipes are typically manufactured from polyethylene and polyester. These two are the largest sources of plastic fibers. They hardly breakdown and are challenging to eliminate from the water.
The precautionary principle of environmental management should apply in dealing with microplastic.
In environmental management, the precautionary principle is common. It states that innovations with the potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking are best avoided.
Undeniably, microplastics’ effects on human health should be considered. Afterall, microplastics contain dangerous chemicals. Global efforts must be concentrated on eradicating plastic products to ensure these products don’t drain in oceans, eventually becoming potentially hazardous microplastics.
David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on active environmental management projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics. The views on this blog post are personal.
