Microplastics have been found in our food, our water, and our bodies, including the brain, liver, and placenta. More than 57 million tons of plastic are generated globally each year and estimates suggest that humans ingest between 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles annually. Studies show the amount is likely to increase as the rate of plastic waste accumulates across the planet.
The detrimental impacts plastics are having on human health is an open question, but what to do about it is not, said Paul Anastas, the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment, and director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale (CGCGE). Anastas spoke with YSE News about the increasing threat from microplastics —and the even smaller versions known as nanoplastics — and how green chemistry can be part of the solution.
Q. Why are microplastics such a threat to human health and the environment?
Plastics are the most produced petrochemical-based synthetic material that we make, and synthetic materials don’t behave the same as natural materials in our bodies or in the environment, so they persist. They are virtually everywhere and in virtually everything. So, we shouldn’t be surprised we are finding them in our bodies, in wildlife, in the environment, and our food and water. Is this a concern? Yes, the concern is that we actually don’t know the extent of the danger, the hazard levels. We still have open questions about the consequences of them and everybody should be demanding that these questions be answered through scientific research.
Q. How can green chemistry combat the problem?
Plastics are the most produced petrochemical-based synthetic material that we make, and synthetic materials don’t behave the same as natural materials in our bodies or in the environment, so they persist. They are virtually everywhere and in virtually everything.”
Everything you see, touch, and feel is chemical. Most every material you are looking at, including all living things is chemical, including flowers, blades of grass, trees. But they are not causing problems because they follow biological rules — they break down, they don’t bioaccumulate. The body can’t break down most current synthetic materials in the same way, at least not all of them. Some percentage is being stored. Green chemistry uses nature’s design principals that are compatible with biology. Many bio-based materials use natural polymers like cellulose, which can be used in utensils, that break down. The Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering recently filed a provisional patent on a new polymer that not only takes polyethylene waste and turns it into a biodegradable polymer, but it also incorporates carbon dioxide into it, so it’s using captured CO2 and transforming it into a biodegradable plastic, and we can turn these into commercial products. There’s a lot of great work being done on the science.
Q. What can individuals do to protect themselves?
People should demand that plastics not build up in our bodies and demand companies transition to green chemicals and green materials. The methods are out there, but people have to insist on it. If government choses to do the right thing, if corporations chose to do the right thing, we could solve this problem. We have the ability, now we just need the will. What could be more hopeful than that?
Published
March 17, 2025
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