Not only are we what we eat: we must consider what results from what we eat, what we breathe and what we are unknowingly exposed to… not just harmless or helpful microbes or even their infectious subset, the pathogens that transmit disease or infection. Increasingly, scientists, doctors and healthcare professionals are making a clarion call to the public about something seriously negatively impacting us. The warning is that the dangers of microplastic and nanoplastic particle pollution have flown under the radar far too long. Let it be known and understood, plastic pollution is not just water bottles or plastic waste floating down the rivers into the oceans or covering our beaches and filling our landfills. Ring the bell. Delve into this issue.
Plastic particles ranging in size from 1 micrometer (1/1,000 of a millimeter) to 5 mm are called microplastics. Nanoplastics are smaller, less than one micrometer. These particles are invisible to the naked eye. They are also constantly generated during the manufacturing, storage, transportation, and decomposition of plastics. Micro- and nanoplastics are also particularly concentrated in water packaged in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or #1 plastic).
Microplastics (MP) and nanoplastics (NP) pollution come from many sources. Tiny plastic particles used in manufacturing consumer products like cosmetics, paints, or textiles contribute a portion. The majority of this insidious pollution results from when larger plastic items decompose into smaller and smaller fragments because of the slow breakdown of polymers by natural forces (sun-light, heat or water) or biological agents (microbes or enzymes). The smaller plastic pieces continue to break down until they eventually become microplastic or nanoplastic particle pollution. These tiny particles are then released into air, water, soil… basically, everywhere.
Environmental Health Sciences Center
Science for a Healthy Planet
UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center
https://environmentalhealth.ucdavis.edu/blog/what-is-the-big-deal-with-microplastics#
“These chemicals are known to cause an epidemic of chronic inflammatory diseases.”
Some contributors to microplastic pollution are synthetic clothes, vehicle tire wear, city dust and degrading plastic litter. Much of this pollution then moves through the environment via the water cycle, primarily by rainwater soaking into the ground through infiltration to become groundwater. Or, flowing over the surface as runoff into streams, then lakes or rivers and eventually polluting the oceans. Ultimately, much of the water returns to the atmosphere through evaporation and then re-falling as precipitation, constantly cycling the microplastic pollution between land, water, and air. If any of the water ends up as wastewater, the treatment plants do not have effective filters to catch even the largest of the microplastic particles.
These tiny particles, including those generated from washing polyester and synthetic clothing, pass seamlessly into the environment and atmosphere ending up virtually everywhere. Microplastics are in the deepest oceans. They exist on highest mountains, in Arctic ice, the soil, the atmosphere, our freshwater, our oceans and even the remotest corners of the planet. Microplastics end up contaminating the entire food chain. They then end up eventually in the blood, lungs liver, organs and brain of almost every living creature on earth. These tiny particles (that come from everyday plastics breaking down) pose a significant, real and pervasive threat to all ecosystems and health.
People ingest microplastics primarily through contaminated food and liquids where plastic packaging leaches into food or drinks or even from drinking bottled water. Ingestion also occurs from cooking with plastic utensils or just tiny particles from plastic tea bags or non-stick pans that contaminate our meals. Another way to ingest MP or NP is that people inhale them from airborne dust of tiny plastic fibers from clothing, carpets, and general urban dust. Synthetic clothing and polyester carpets shed microfibers that float in the air. People also absorb microplastics via skin contact with some cosmetics. People brushing their teeth can even ingest MP particles from the toothbrush itself.
In essence microplastics contact is inescapable. They are found in food, water and air. Ingestion is guaranteed because of plastic packaging and the contaminated food chain.
On the average, 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles per year are ingested solely from food and drinking water. Those who drink bottled water on a daily basis ingest nearly 90,000 additional microplastic particles into their bodies annually. With so many consequences of ingesting micro- and nanoplastic particles the safest decision is to avoid any known hosts of this Trojan horse.
Why are microplastics and nanoplastics such a concern?
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are a serious concern because they’re everywhere and easily enter our bodies (blood and organs). They act as “Trojan horses” for toxins contained in the MP and NP particles that cause inflammation, oxidative stress and DNA damage. Their presence in the body is potentially linked to cancers, heart issues, and reproductive problems. Nanoplastics are especially perilous due to their ability to cross barriers and invade cells. Scientists are still trying to fully understand the long-term chronic impacts. Cellular invasion and organ accumulation are troubling since nanoplastics are so small they can pass through lungs and intestines directly into the bloodstream to reach the brain, heart and cross to a mother’s placenta.
Plastics carry harmful toxic chemicals and absorbed environmental pollutants including bacteria, viruses and antibiotic resistant genes that can leach out and cause toxicity. They affect the immune system and trigger inflammation, DNA damage, and oxidative stress. They disrupt cell signaling and potentially lead to cardiovascular complications. The immune system is disrupted since plastic is not easy to break down and long-term damage to crucial organs like the liver and the brain occurs. Research suggests links to increased risk of reproductive issues, heart attacks, strokes, cancer and lung, liver and organ damage. Understanding the complex interactions between MP and NP with our biology, metabolism and the environment is a complex challenge. Much research is required before we find the answers to these complex relationships.
We need to know solutions!
Wake up. Speak up. Be heard.
© 12.27.2025 stevendphilbrick sr+ for Sustainable Resources https://OurBlueOrb.Org
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