Plastics

CURRENT NEWS

Apr 30 2022

Insider

Yes, you’re consuming microplastics —

By Andrea Michelson Photo: Mehdi Fedouach/AFP via Getty Images

Scientists are certain that humans around the world are ingesting tiny pieces of plastic on a regular basis. Now, they are seeking to understand how the wide distribution of microplastics affects human health and the…

Apr 30 2022

Yahoo News

Studies find microplastics in human lungs, blood stream; scientists investigating possible health risks

Scientists from the Netherlands and the U.K. recently identified microplastics deep in the lungs of some surgical patients and in the blood of anonymous donors. Researchers say that it's possible to take in these particles…

Apr 30 2022

CBS NEWS

Studies find microplastics in human lungs, blood stream; scientists investigating possible health risks

Apr 29 2022

Reuters

California AG subpoenas Exxon for details on role in global plastic pollution

By Valerie Volcovici Photo: Reuters/Sergio Moraes

California's attorney general announced on Thursday he issued a subpoena to ExxonMobil (XOM.N) for information on its role in causing the global plastic waste crisis.

Apr 26 2022

National Geographic

Microplastics are in our bodies. How much do they harm us?

By Laura Parker Photo: Alexander Stein, Getty Images

A few years ago, as microplastics began turning up in the guts of fish and shellfish, the concern was focused on the safety of seafood. Shellfish were a particular worry, because in their case, unlike…

Apr 26 2022

The Conversation

Disease-causing parasites can hitch a ride on plastics and potentially spread through the sea, new research suggests

By Karen Shapiro and Emma Zhang Photo: Yunaidi Joepoet/Moment via Getty Images

Typically when people hear about plastic pollution, they might envision seabirds with bellies full of trash or sea turtles with plastic straws in their noses. However, plastic pollution poses another threat that’s invisible to the…

Apr 11 2022

NBC NEWS

Microplastics in the human body: What we know and don’t know

By Evan Bush Photo: Pcess609 / Getty Images

Few places on Earth — or in our bodies — seem to be free of microplastics. Researchers in recent months have announced the discovery of microplastics traveling in the bloodstream of a handful of anonymous…

Apr 06 2022

News4JAX

Plastic and its impact on our health

It's well known plastics are harmful to the environment, but this isn't the only thing plastics are impacting, according to the World Economic Forum. They can also be harmful to your health.

Apr 02 2022

The Washington Post

There’s good reason to worry about the health risks of plastics

By Erika Veidis and Jamie Hansen Photo: Ben Curtis/AP

An emerging domain of research shows that plastic consumption and pollution harms human health — particularly for the world’s lower-income communities.

Mar 24 2022

The Guardian

Microplastics found in human blood for first time

By Damian Carrington Photo: David Kelly

Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested. The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body…

Jan 19 2022

World Economic Forum

We know plastic pollution is bad – but how exactly is it linked to climate change?

By Charlotte Edmond Photo: Reuters/Hemanshi Kamani

From bags caught in hedgerows to bottles bobbing in the ocean, the visible signs of our single-use plastic addiction are everywhere. We all know that plastic pollution is a big problem. But what is less…

Jan 13 2022

New Security Beat

The Climate Footprint of Plastics and the Need for a Global Solution

By Justin Bernstein

U.S. efforts to reclaim its climate change leadership, as demonstrated at COP26 in Glasgow, will be undermined if the country does not also step up and accelerate action on reducing plastic waste. Plastic is packing…

KEY RESOURCES

Plastic Proliferation Threatens the Climate on a Global Scale

05/02/22

The plastic pollution crisis that overwhelms our oceans is also a significant and growing threat to the Earth’s climate. At current levels, greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle threaten the ability of the global…

Alaska Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE-Alaska) Webinar

02/23/22

Plastics have become an everyday part of our lives, including the many unintended consequences of plastic production, use, and disposal. Chemicals added to plastics – to make them stronger, more flexible, or UV resistant –…

The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution

02/01/22

Plastic pollution and climate change have commonly been treated as two separate issues and sometimes are even seen as competing. Here we present an alternative view that these two issues are fundamentally linked. Primarily, we…

How do Microplastics Affect Our Health?

09/20/21

The use of plastic is one of the conveniences of modern life, but in recent years microplastic contamination has become an emerging global concern. Microplastics ––plastic particles measuring less than 5mm ––are everywhere ––from the…

Microplastics and human health

02/12/21

The ubiquity of microplastics in the global biosphere raises increasing concerns about their implications for human health. Recent evidence indicates that humans constantly inhale and ingest microplastics; however, whether these contaminants pose a substantial risk…

Plastics pose threat to human health

12/15/20

Plastics contain and leach hazardous chemicals, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that threaten human health. An authoritative new report, Plastics, EDCs, & Health, from the Endocrine Society and the IPEN (International Pollutants Elimination Network), presents a…

A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health

02/13/20

The distribution and abundance of microplastics into the world are so extensive that many scientists use them as key indicators of the recent and contemporary period defining a new historical epoch: The Plasticene. However, the…

Plastic & Health

02/01/19

Despite being one of the most pervasive materials on the planet, plastic and its impact on human health is poorly understood. Human exposure to it grows with increasing plastic production and use. Research into the…

Public health impact of plastics: An overview

12/01/11

Plastic, one of the most preferred materials in today's industrial world is posing serious threat to environment and consumer's health in many direct and indirect ways. Exposure to harmful chemicals during manufacturing, leaching in the…

Load less

MORE NEWS

The Atlantic

How Bad Are Plastics, Really?

By Rebecca Altman Photo: Matthew Porter 01/03/22

This is hardly the time to talk about plastics is what I think when Dad, hovering over the waste bin at a post-funeral potluck, waves me over, his gesture discreet but emphatic. He has retrieved…

The Guardian

Microplastics cause damage to human cells, study shows

By Damian Carrington Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images 12/08/21

Microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory at the levels known to be eaten by people via their food, a study has found. The harm included cell death and allergic reactions and the…

World Bank Blogs

6 reasons to blame plastic pollution for climate change

By Nina Tsydenovapawan Patil Photo: Shutterstock.com 11/09/21

What is the link between plastics and hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in the United States, melting glaciers in Antarctica, summer heat waves and erosion of coastal areas in Australia, and other natural disasters hitting us…

UN Environment Programme

How microplastics affect your health

11/15/19

51 Trillion particles of microplastics float in our oceans. Yet there is very little science of how this affects our health. This video shows why we should gain back control over plastic in our lives.

Yale Climate Connections

How plastics contribute to climate change

By Brooke Bauman 08/20/19

In 2015, Texas A&M graduate student Christine Figgener recorded a video of her colleagues removing a straw lodged in a turtle’s nostril. The video went viral, inspiring people to take action. Since then, “skip the…

Vice

You’re Likely Inhaling 11 Tiny Bits of Plastic Per Hour

By Erica Cirino Photo: Erica Cirino 06/17/19

Pulling on a white cotton lab coat, researcher Alvise Vianello stepped into a stark white room filled with whizzing machines. The contraptions were analyzing foreign materials found in soil, drinking water, the oceans, wastewater, and…

Wired

Your Poop is Probably Full of Plastic

By Robbie Gonzalez Photo: Getty Images 10/22/18

Every minute, a dumptruckful of plastic plops into the world's oceans. That's eight million metric tons every year1. Once waterborne, whatever doesn't wash ashore eventually breaks down into itty bits. The puniest pieces—the ones smaller…

NPR

Beer, Drinking Water And Fish: Tiny Plastic Is Everywhere

By Christopher Joyce Photo by Chris Joyce/NPR 08/20/18

Plastic trash is littering the land and fouling rivers and oceans. But what we can see is only a small fraction of what's out there. Since modern plastic was first mass-produced, 8 billion tons have…

The Conversation

Obesity and diabetes: 2 reasons why we should be worried about the plastics that surround us

By Bruce Blumberg and Raquel Chamorro-Garcia Photo by Sirikanlaya Khlibngern/Shutterstock.com 08/13/18

Today, nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults and 21 percent of youth are obese. This trend is on the upswing and the worldwide population is becoming more obese – which is increasing the risk of…

Science.org

Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made

By Roland Geyer and Others 07/19/17

A world without plastics, or synthetic organic polymers, seems unimaginable today, yet their large-scale production and use only dates back to ~1950. Although the first synthetic plastics, such as Bakelite, appeared in the early 20th…