If We Are What We Eat, What Are We If We Eat Plastic?

Did you know that plastic is in everything and is impossible to avoid?  It's even in the food we eat!

How did it get there?  As we pointed out in Plastic and the Environment, the plastics that we use undergo a process of weathering; plastics degrade by breaking up into microparticles and microfibers. These plastic particles find their way into the soil, make their way into rivers and waterways, and eventually find their way into the ocean, where they are ingested by marine life. Although plastic particles permeate the soil and water, the most common source of microplastics in food is seafood, and especially mussels and oysters. The use of fish guts for the preparation of animal feed (e.g., for poultry production and pig rearing) further distributes the plastic particles throughout the food chain. Plastic particles are found in products as diverse as seafood, salt, honey, beer, babies’ formula milk, and drinking water, among others.

When we consume these products, we also consume their plastic particles. Researchers have found particles of 9 out of 10 types of plastic in people from Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the U.K., Russia, and Japan. Although further research is required, Austrian researchers estimated that over half the world's population might have microplastic in their stool. A study published in Environment International in January 2021 found microplastic in the placentas of mothers and their unborn babies.  and is "a matter of great concern".  It is estimated that, on average, you probably consume the same amount of plastic as a credit card every week.

Surprisingly, the impact of this direct consumption of microplastics on the human body is as yet unknown. Studies on rats have found plastic particles in the stomach, intestines, kidneys, and heart. Extrapolating these studies to humans suggests that microplastic consumption can lead to tissue damage, DNA damage, and inflammation (which in turn can lead to or exacerbate a host of other medical conditions). What is known, however, is that micro-organisms colonize plastic waste more readily than other surfaces. Some of these micro-organisms are pathogens such as bacteria that can cause sickness or disease.

Besides weathering, plastics also undergo a process of decomposition: some of the chemicals used in producing the plastic leach into soil or water (or into the product stored in a plastic container). A study published in Science of the Total Environment in February 2019 found that, of 906 chemicals associated with plastic packaging, 63 pose significant human health risks. These include chemicals that can disrupt the endocrine and reproductive systems, cause genetic mutation or such diseases as diabetes, or are linked to various cancers, to list just a few of their effects.

If we are what we eat, we’re becoming more and more like plastic and like its component chemicals every day. It seems like a fitting commentary of our time that humankind, made in the image of God, is being transformed into the image of pieces of plastic.