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Before we get to today’s question, let’s take a moment to lament the collapse of international talks focused on creating a global plastics treaty. As Bill McKibben reported in his recent newsletter, “At international talks overrun by industry lobbyists, efforts to restrict plastics production have run into the usual roadblocks.” The roadblocks he mentions are a vast assembly of petrochemical lobbyists determined to prevent agreement over reducing production and, instead, shifting focus to recycling (which we know is largely ineffective). According to McKibben, “234 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered for the Geneva talks — more than the combined delegations of all 27 EU member states plus the European Union itself, according to an analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).”
And so … let’s consider what we might do ourselves about microplastics. Read on.
I know from news reports that human bodies are full of microplastics. But … how did they get there? How can I stop this from happening?
–Spencer K
Dear Spencer K,
It almost defies reason that plastics have only been in wide circulation since about the middle of the last century. By the time the Second World War was over, plastics had replaced a plethora of more natural materials in everything from parachutes to aircraft windows, and plastic production in the U.S. had exploded by 300%. Today, we can find plastic particles in the Mariana Trench, on top of Mount Everest, and in the brains, ovaries, testes, kidneys, livers, and bloodstreams of humans and other animals. In other words, there seems to be literally no place on Earth free of plastic.
Which suggests, Spencer K, that the genie is well out of the plastic bottle.
But though plastic exists in our bodies, our babies, and just about everywhere else, it’s nonetheless worth considering how it made its way there, if only to figure out if we can reduce its prevalence, even slightly.
What does Dot suggest? Read on.
