Parley and Plastic Soup Foundation gather experts to ask: is plastic making us sick?

Parley for the Oceans and Plastic Soup Foundation hosted the very first Plastic Heath Summit in Amsterdam earlier this month, covering the most relevant and pressing health concerns surrounding plastics and human health. Beyond discussing the latest findings in the field, we posed the urgent question to scientists and policy makers: is plastic making us sick?

Most of the participating scientists and organizations have been working on 15 different research projects covering the effects of micro and nanoplastics on human health. In their talks, they considered the impact of plastic on our bodies, the health effects of additives commonly used in plastic (both in terms of child development and the development of long-term and chronic diseases in adults), as well as the policies and advocacy addressing the use and regulation of toxic additives in plastic. As Professor Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist, pointed out: "Microplastic is not just one pollutant, it's a cocktail of contaminants."

With pressing evidence that the damage caused by plastic is ongoing, some studies covered the issue of how exactly plastic infiltrates our bodies by way of inhalation, dermal absorption and direct consumption. The question now is whether we should be concerned about how plastic behaves once in the bloodstream and tissues of the human body.

Fransien van Dijk, a researcher at the University of Groningen, reported findings that show "lung cells 'hunt' nylon microfibers when exposed to them much more aggressively than polyester microfibers." This is an interesting finding, suggesting that nylon is a specific enemy. Other synthetic fibers did not trigger such an aggressive reaction in the studies conducted.

Prof. Juliette Legler of Utrecht University reported on animal studies showing that microplastics are able to enter the placenta, and the developing organs of the fetus. This is extremely disturbing considering that early development in the womb can affect later life. Assistant Prof. Nienke Vrisekoop, also at Utrecht, found that microplastics have the ability to kill immune cells. A three month study concluded that macrophages were attacking microplastics as if they were pathogens (enemy to immune system, foreign to body homeostasis). This also implies that there is a natural occurring / resulting state of inflammation, whether it be minor or major, inflammation is directly correlated to disease, most popularly, cancer.

Despite these and other recent scientific studies presented in Amsterdam, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there are larger questions and concerns surrounding plastic toxicity that need to be pursued. Parley and Plastic Soup Foundation are currently set to take this mission on and will begin to dive into the depths of these plastic related human health concerns in the coming year.