UPCOMING EVENTS
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Plastics And Human Health
Source: Beyond Plastics
Plastics And Chemicals
​More than 98% of plastics are made from fossil fuels such as oil and gas. Turning these substances into plastics requires numerous petrochemical additives. At least 13,000 chemicals are known to be involved in the production of plastics.
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More than 2,300 of these are chemicals of concern. Some are highly toxic and include carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and hormone disruptors. These chemicals pose serious risks to our health because they can leach into food, especially when containers hold hot, acidic, or oily foods. Learn more about Plastics and Human Health. Learn more about bisphenols & phthalates.
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Styrofoam/expanded polystyrene (often called foam) contains styrene, a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxicant, which can migrate into food. Styrene has documented impacts on human health, including cancer, disruption of hormones, and reproductive harm. Learn more from the Center for Environmental Health: Polystyrene, Disposable Food Containers, and Contaminated Food.
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Black plastic contains many toxic chemicals. Some are highly toxic and include carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and hormone disruptors. Black plastic may also contain flame-retardant chemicals because it is made from recycled electronics, which often contain flame retardants.​
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Chemical migration from packaging into food increases with higher temperatures and longer storage times.
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Hormone disruptors affect the most vulnerable: fetuses, infants, and young children. Yet we feed them with plastic bottles, on plastic dishes, and allow them to chew on rubber ducks and teething rings.
Non-Recyclability and Waste
​​​Styrofoam and black plastic are not accepted by most curbside recycling programs. Styrofoam, due to its lightweight and porous nature, easily breaks into small fragments, contaminating recycling streams and the environment. Most municipal recycling facilities lack the equipment necessary to process it, resulting in nearly all used Styrofoam ending up in landfills or, worse, in waterways and oceans.
Black plastic, often made from polystyrene or polypropylene, poses a different challenge. The dark pigment used in these containers interferes with the optical sorting machines at recycling plants, making it nearly impossible to identify and process the material. As a result, black plastic is typically sent directly to an incinerator or landfill. Even if a brand-new recycling facility has upgraded its optical sorting machines to detect black plastic, the use of black plastic, which contains toxic chemicals, poses a significant health risk.​​​
​​​​​Environmental Hazards
​Plastics do not biodegrade; they break down into small pieces called micro- and nanoplastics, which can take over 450 years. During this time, they leach harmful chemicals into soil and water, threatening ecosystems, entering the food chain, and affecting human health.
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Black plastic often contains additives and dyes that are difficult to break down and may include hazardous substances, such as flame retardants and heavy metals. Learn more about micro- and nanoplastics: Dangerous Chemicals and Microplastics In Our Food from Plastic Containers, Wraps, and Packaging. ​
Where Are Plastics Found?
​​​​Plastics are everywhere in our environment. They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, our soil, our food and beverages, and they have migrated into every organ within our body.
Many of the thousands of chemicals in plastic leach into our food from the packaging used to sell food and beverages. They are in the cookware and utensils used in preparing food in our kitchens.
Every week, we are ingesting the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of microplastics.​
View The Movie
​We're All Plastic People Now
An Emmy Award-winning documentary, introduced by Ted Danson and featured at the 2024 Santa Fe Film Festival, is about the impact of plastics on your health. This film presents the findings of many researchers and physicians. Their research shows that plastic is in the air, in the water, in the food, and it's in all of our bodies. It’s been found inside our bodies, our colons, our brains, in breast milk, and in developing wombs. Now, it’s even in our hearts. This groundbreaking film, for the first time, tests the producer’s blood and the blood of four generations of family members for chemicals derived from plastic. The results are alarming.
Movie Trailer: We're All Plastic People Now
South Florida PBS Presents Full Viewing of Movie: We're All Plastic People Now​
