DTE - October 1-15, 2024

Key Facts and Figures (Logical Order)

• Global Plastic Production: 430 million tonnes produced per year globally, two-thirds of which is short-lived or single-use waste.

• Human Brain Intrusion: A 2024 study detected MNP (micro/nano plastic) concentrations in decedent brain samples 7 to 30 times higher than in livers or kidneys, with early-2024 brain samples containing nearly 0.5% plastic by weight.

• Atmospheric Deposition:

  • Paris, France: ~110 particles/m²/day.

  • London, UK: 575–1,008 particles/m²/day.

  • Indoor spaces: 1,600–11,000 particles/m²/day.

• Daily Ingestion: Infants ingest a median of 4,000–150,000 ng/kg-bw/day of PET-based microplastics from indoor dust—tenfold higher than adult intake rates.

• Food & Beverage Contamination: A single tea bag releases ~11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nano plastics into a cup of tea. Sea salt contains up to 1,674 particles/kg.

Significance of the Topic

• Shifts the view of microplastics from mere ocean litter to an urgent systemic toxicological threat affecting biological tissue, soil health, and food chains.

Relevance in the Current Scenario

• Provides crucial scientific evidence ahead of final negotiations for the legally binding Global Plastics Treaty in Busan, South Korea.

Summary of the article

In Busan, South Korea, this November, the final round of negotiations on the Global Plastic Treaty (legally binding parties to address plastic pollution at its source) has been evolving since 2022.

Initially, the focus was on microplastics, defined as plastic particles up to 5 mm in diameter, which are a component of marine plastic pollution and often arise from the degradation of larger plastic waste discarded in the aquatic environment.

Since the fourth round in April, 2024, the focus shifted to reducing generation and release, emphasizing intentionally produced microplastics. This includes raw materials used in plastic fabrication and processing, as well as small microbes added to toothpaste and other personal care products as exfoliating agents.

“Microplastics: occurrence, fate, and behavior in the environment” is a chapter in the book Comprehensive Analytic Chemistry (2017). It reported that 6 % of liquid skincare products sold in the EU, Switzerland, and Norway contain microplastics.

According to the UN, the world produces 430 million tons of plastic each year, two-thirds of which are used for only a short period. The United Nations Environment Programme warned that microplastics are an emerging global contaminant threatening the health of humans and other organisms, as noted in the UNEP Yearbook 2014, Emerging Issues in Our Global Environment. In 2022, the World Health Organization said there was insufficient evidence to determine the risk microplastics pose to human health.

A study by the University of Mexico, US, shows that microplastics have invaded the brain. In May 2024, microplastics and nanoparticles (plastics smaller than 1 µm, or MNPs) were detected in human brain tissue.

The concentration in brain samples is 7–30 times higher than in liver or kidney tissue. Microplastics were also found in lungs, kidneys, placenta, reproductive organs, and blood. Exposure can cause oxidative stress and cytotoxicity in cerebral and epithelial cells, leading to reduced immune response, inflammation, DNA damage, metabolic disruption, and impaired reproductive function.

In March 2024, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that microplastics in the heart increase the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke.

It reduces lipid digestion by forming oil droplets and inhibiting enzyme activity, as reported in a 2020 paper in Environmental Science and Technology.

[!abstract] Microplastics are pervading human blood, heart tissue, and the brain (up to 0.5% weight in sample brains). Indoor dust exposure is especially high for infants. These findings emphasize the necessity of strict production limits and bans under the Global Plastics Treaty.

Economic costs of banning plastics

05.12.2024 - The Hindu

Of the nearly 170 countries gathered at the fifth round of meetings in Busan, roughly half — led by the European Union and supported by Pacific island-nations were of the view that despite the usefulness of plastic and its significant role in enabling mass consumption through the modern era, its relative indestructibility was now an environmental hazard

Many of the large developing countries, and those with economies premised on the extraction of oil and petrochemical refining, baulk at such a proposal.

Bharat has chosen to side with the countries that are averse to production cuts.

Bharat's capacity to recycle plastic is only about a third of the plastic that is annually introduced.

• @ More than 90% of plastic is not recycled, while plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.

Reusing single use plastics isn't a good idea

5.12.2024 - WP

Reuse is one of the core rules of sustainability. Reducing plastics reuse is the best possible approach.

Effects of reusing single use plastics

• Children and people of reproductive age face the highest risks
• Single-use plastics leach chemicals and shed microplastics into your environment.
• More concerned about the single use plastics because of how they are made.
• Single use plastic water bottle sheds micro and nanoplastics into your water when you refill it, and a takeout container or frozen meal tray sheds these particles into your food.
• $ Nano plastics - measure less than one micro meter, less than one - seventieth the width of the hair
• @ out of about 16,000 chemicals found in plastic, over 4,200 of which are considered “highly hazardous.”
• Known carcinogens like styrene have also been found in plastics.
• Chemical exposure increases if plastic is heated, typically in a microwave, a dishwasher or even by placing hot food in a takeout container. When heat is applied, molecules move faster, meaning it could be easier for some of these particles to make their way into your food.

Black Plastic

• this contains hig levels of flame retardants, which have been linked to hormone disruptions, reproductive complications and elevated cancer risks.

International Bottled Water Association

It does not recommend reusing single-use beverage containers because of the “potential health risks due to bacteria growth and contamination.”

February 2025

Microplastics are killing the heart

• Scientists have found that 4.2 million plastic particles in every square centimeter of food heated in plastic containers.

• Experiments on rats showed that boiling water in plastic cause inflammation, heart failure and circulation problems.