Plastic Pollution and Human Health Concerns

By Jacquelyn Casazza, LWVIL Issue Specialist for Zero Waste

7/1/24

Many people think of plastic as a litter or environmental concern.  This is true, but plastic is also a human health concern. Plastic does not biodegrade. Instead it breaks apart into fragments known as micro and nanoplastics. Microplastics have been found everywhere: in air, water, rain, snow and soil, as well as in food, tap and bottled water, and other beverages. They have also been found throughout the human body in blood, lungs, testicles, breastmilk, stool, and placentas of unborn babies.  

Why is this a problem?

Plastic is made of fossil fuels and chemical additives. Many of these chemicals are potentially harmful to human health and the environment and include known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors such as vinyl chloride, bisphenols (i.e. BPA), parabens, phthalates, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (i.e. PFAS), and more. When plastic enters our food and our bodies, these harmful chemicals can leach out. Human health issues like reproductive, neurological, and immunity dysfunction, and other problems like obesity and hormone-sensitive cancers have been linked to these chemicals.

Research continues to highlight health concerns—studies published in 2024 alone linked microplastics to cardiovascular disease, premature births, and other health complications. As the amount of plastic we produce and throw away continues to grow, so does our level of exposure. We do not yet know what the long term health impacts will be.  

You can read more about the health effects of microplastics in this 2023 evidence review for the California state legislature.

What can we do?

At home, reduce plastic when it is possible and practical for you and your family. Avoid heating food in plastic or polystyrene foam, avoid storing fatty or oily foods in plastic containers (studies show that plastic chemicals are “lipophilic,” i.e., drawn to and readily absorbed by fatty substances), and reduce single-use plastics that are used to consume food and drink like to-go containers, straws, and plastic utensils.  

While reducing your own personal plastic use will help, we also need to make changes on a larger scale to address unnecessary, non-recyclable plastic waste. Ask your elected officials to support two pieces of legislation that reduce single-use plastics in our community: HB 2376, a state bill to ban foam foodware at Illinois retailers and restaurants, and SB 2211/HB 4448, a state bill to ban plastic bags at Illinois retailers and restaurants.