Plastic Pollution: How Does It Affect Your Health?
The plastic problem expands with human society. It has been shown that there are numerous animal species with microplastics in their digestive tract. And the effects on humans and their health can already be perceived incipiently.
Plastic pollution is becoming one of the great problems of the human population. Plastic is one of the materials that we use the most in the industry, especially in the food industry. However, to this day we still do not know its effects well.
Plastic follows a ‘life cycle’, that is, a series of stages that it passes through throughout its existence. Its process consists of four phases:
- Extraction of materials
- Transport
- Manufacturing and refining
- Use and management of waste
The effects of plastic pollution in each of these phases are currently being studied. It can already be said that it has a multitude of harmful effects on human health, and that it is more than just an environmental problem.
Therefore, in this article we explain how plastic pollution affects your health, since we are all exposed to it. It is necessary to be aware to rethink a more socially responsible use of this material.
How does plastic pollution affect health?
Plastic pollution is being studied to verify the magnitude of its effects on the body. However, microplastics are already known to damage many other living things, such as fish.
Microplastics are particles that are less than 5 millimeters in diameter. They are produced by the division of larger plastics that, as they become smaller and smaller, invade the entire environment, especially water.
This is so because much of the plastic waste ends up in the sea. Scientists have shown that microplastics can be found throughout their digestive tract in more than 100 aquatic species. In other words, the marine fauna is being polluted by them.
The big problem with this is that many of these species are part of our diet. In addition, that plastic pollution is also making animals sick. For example, it is very typical to find turtles with intestinal obstruction from them.
Over time, these microplastics are likely to get even smaller. These particles could get into our tissues and act toxic. The truth is that this is still a hypothesis, but experimental models prove its real possibility in humans.