Macro Cost of Micro Contamination

Microplastics: an unseen & deadly poison

Micro-level plastic contamination yields tremendous hidden costs to communities, the environment, and food chain systems. Though often not seen by the human eye, fragmented microplastic pieces are poison to our soils | water microbial communities as well as to fish, mammals, birds and most all life forms.

Over time, microplastics, defined as less than or equal to 5 mm, disintegrate into nanoplastics; additionally nanoplastics may be directly released into the air, waterways, and soil. As micro and nanoplastics are prevalent across the globe, even in the most remote lands and the exceptional depths of the oceans, concerns about the health implications to human and all life on earth is escalating.

Health Implications
Per the Mayo Clinic March 2024 article, What’s lurking in your body? Mayo probes health risks of tiny plastic particles, a landmark study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine links microplastics and nanoplastics found in plaques of human blood vessels to a potential increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death. Chemical additives to plastics that enhance flexibility and durability are of particular concern. As it provides digestion and blood detoxification for the body, the liver is at high health risk from micro and nanoplastics.

According to the ScienceDaily 2022 story, Nano-sized plastics may enter and permeate cell membranes:

Researchers have used molecular modelling methods to investigate the movement of nano-sized plastics in membrane structures. The results indicate that for some microplastics, passive transport through the cell membrane may be a significant gateway into the cell.
As nanoplastics may segue through cell walls, it is probable that plant-based food will soon, if not already, contain plastic pollution.
With the prolific micro and nanoplastic pollution contaminating the Earth, health implications for all life on earth is a major concern.

Plastics on the Soils
In May 2022, the Center for International Environmental Law published a report on the plastics in the soils, Sowing a Plastic Planet: How Microplastics in Agrochemicals Are Affecting Our Soils, Our Food, and Our Future. From the astonishing report:

Plastics are everywhere in agriculture, from greenhouse films and landscaping fabrics to crop coverings and product packaging. Many of these uses provide pathways for plastic contamination. But the application of plastic-coated agrochemicals to soils and crops directly introduces microplastic into the environment and potentially into the food supply. It also compounds the health and environmental hazards posed by agrochemicals themselves.

One of the least known and most concerning sources of microplastic pollution is their deliberate addition to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides used in industrial agriculture.

Microplastics disintegrate into nanoplastics that are capable of segueing through cell walls. Thus, plants may join the animal-protein food contaminated with plastics.

Industry Pioneer
Beginning in 2015, Ei delved into the plastic-pollution crisis with an emphasis on micro and nanoplastics.

Plastics GYRE Symposium
Ei provided behind-the-scenes support for the ground-breaking 2015 Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond hosted in Atlanta by the Center for Disease Control and Georgia State University.

The two-day Symposium included a stellar program that ran the gamut of educating on the horrific facts of the plastic-pollution scenario to providing a good news blitz of positive action in-place to explaining the social justice (or injustice) surrounding the gyre & other plastic-pollution impacts. Prominent industry experts traveled from across the nation to share their experience, research and call-to-action.

The RiA article, Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond, chronicles the impressive symposium.

National Zero Waste Business Conference (NZWBC)
At the 2016 NZWBC hosted in Austin, Texas, Ei hosted an impressive, popular break-out session, The Macro Cost of Micro Contamination. Ei Partner Rick Lombardo, Natur-Tec Director Business Development, North America was accompanied by 5 Gyres Director of Global Partnerships & Community Engagement Lia Colabella. Ei Founder & CEO Holly Elmore moderated the panel.

While Lia presented on the documented plastic pollution crisis in our oceans, Rick educated on a similar dilemma building within our soils in his Compostable Plastics vs. Traditional Plastics presentation.

To help understand the origins of microplastic contamination, Rick educated on fragmentation, biodegradability and compostability; the difference between biodegradability and compostibility is TIME. By definition, organic material decomposes within 180 days in a commercial-composting facility while bio-degradation may take as long as millions of years.

The RiA Magazine article, The Macro Cost of Micro Contamination, educates on the alarming environmental and health challenges associated microplastic pollution with the summary of impressive session.

Plastics: a double-edged sword
In late 2019, Ei explored the plastic-pollution scenario via the RiA article, Plastics: a double-edged sword.

Before addressing the environmental and health challenges associated with plastic pollution, the in-depth article provides a history of plastics and explains how plastics literally evolved nearly every realm of human existence.

As a pandemic project, Holly published the inaugural Ei book designed for print, From Macro to Micro to Nanoplastics, as an excerpt of the Plastics: a double-edged sword article. Holly Elmore Images contributed images for the educational book.

Era of Impact
As Ei segues into the Era of Impact, a focus on micro and nanoplastics will interweave within the recently launched Ei Educates platform.