Plastic, unlike most raw materials, doesn’t come from the earth. Plastic comes from laboratories, and though it is one of the cheapest, most useful and most malleable materials available, its chemicals and waste pose a serious risk to the health of its consumers and the planet.
Since the 1950s, plastic has played an increasingly ubiquitous role in our everyday lives, which warrants a closer look at the material people rely so much upon. So for one week, I decided to track how much plastic I disposed of and came into contact with, and the results were substantial.
One discovery was that, every day, I consumed something that came from plastic packaging. I bought spaghetti that was wrapped in plastic, a salad from Waves Cafe in a plastic container, yogurt from a plastic cup and Snapple from a plastic bottle, just to name a few examples.
Two chemicals commonly used in plastic are bisphenol-a (BPA) and phthalates; the first makes plastic hard and clear (such as in Tupperware, water bottles and the lining of soft drink and food cans), the latter makes plastic soft (such as in raincoats, shower curtains and rubber ducks).
BPA, which is used in a lot of food packaging and lining, has been shown to leach from packaging and into the body. In 2003-2004, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention tested urine samples in over 2,500 adults and children and found detectable levels of BPA in 93 percent of the sample. Exposure to BPA (even in small amounts) has been linked to serious side effects, such as breast and prostate cancer, early onset of puberty, obesity, and hyperactivity in children, according to a 2010 study by researchers Rubin and Soto. Researchers from the plastics and chemical industry, however, continue to suggest that small amounts have unclear effects on the body.
In addition, BPA is similar to the hormone estrogen, and in some studies has been linked to fertility problems for males such as low sperm count and decreased sperm quality, according to a 2007 study conducted by Vandenberg, Hauser, Marcus, Olea and Weslshons. Phthalates, too, have been shown to cause similar effects.
Phthalates seem to be even more ubiquitous than BPA, as they are used in oily substances such as lotions and cosmetics and are absorbed through the skin as well as ingested. Also, the refreshing scents we inhale when climbing in a new car or from a new shower curtain are phthalates released from the product.
Though there are more and more studies from different researchers showing similar hormonal, neural, and developmental effects from BPA and phthalates, there are still debates about how extensive the effects actually are on the general population.
“I think that the reason there is disagreement among scientists is because the effects are small. Scientists are comfortable with uncertainty and disagreeing is part of developing a consensus and figuring out what questions should be pursued most vigorously to gain more certainty,” said Dr. James White, a professor of organic chemistry at Pepperdine.
Nevertheless, the fact that scientists are raising health concerns is reason enough to consider just how much plastic we do consume.
Despite the fact that I consumed food and drink from plastic every day, I also throw away a significant amount of plastic daily—and of the plastic I didn’t throw away, most of it was single-use disposable plastic that I will throw away, such as shampoo bottles. Over the course of seven days, I threw away nine plastic bags, three plastic bottles, three disposable coffee cups (which are lined with plastic) and their lids, and 10 single-serve creamer containers for my coffee. I, however, throw away less garbage than the national average, which is 4.4 pounds per person per day.
One of the biggest problems with how much single-use plastic we dispose of is the fact that plastic does not decompose. Yet, plastic exploits the earth’s valuable resources. For example, Americans used 102 billion plastic bags in 2009 alone according to the United States International Trade Commission, which used about 12 million barrels of oil to produce. Plastic bags, bottles, and other packaging is sometimes used for only minutes before it is thrown away — a stark contrast to the amount of time it takes the earth to produce oil.
Even when plastic is properly disposed of, it still fills up our landfills, pollutes our gutters, and much of it ends up in the ocean. Plastic then breaks down into small, non-biodegradable bits; and in one heavily polluted part of the ocean (called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, created by currents in the North Pacific Gyre of the Pacific Ocean and is estimated to be twice the size of Texas), the plastic bits are 40 times more concentrated than that of plankton. Fish, birds and other marine life then mistake those bits for food.
Midway Island, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is known to be a cemetery of sorts for Laysan Albatrosses. Researchers who’ve visited the island have found countless dead Albatrosses whose bodies have decayed, but the contents of their stomachs (which include bottle caps, lip balm containers, pen caps and pieces of plastic bags among other contents) have not.
Plastic isn’t going away any time soon. Which means its effects aren’t either. Reducing how much you consume may make a huge impact on your health and the health of the environment, and luckily, there are easy ways to do so. First, single-use plastic bags from grocery or convenience stores are 100 percent unnecessary and can be replaced by re-usable bags or backpacks. Second, making a conscious effort to go at least one day a week without consuming food or drink from plastic containers will help cut down both how much garbage you throw away and potentially harmful chemicals entering your system. Third, replacing plastic Tupperware with glass, disposable utensils with metal, single-use water bottles with re-useable, body wash and hand soap with bar soap, and bringing your own produce bags to the grocery store can all significantly decrease the amount of plastic used.
