Plastics have become an indivisible part of our daily lives as they can be found in almost everything we use including the device which you are reading this article on. However, that was not always the case. The world’s first plastic, Parkesine, was synthesized in 1862 from cellulose and served as an alternative to ivory for waterproofing. Today, plastics are made from natural materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil through a polymerisation or polycondensation process.. Plastic are synthetic polymers which have extraordinarily traits as they are light-weight, durable, and malleable. Plastic can also be easily mass produced as its raw materials are cheap and available in vast amounts. All these factors led to the start of a golden era of plastic which allowed the advancement of the medical, communications, and transport sector profoundly. However, plastic has ceased to be a revolutionary material and instead it has become trash amounting to 6.3 billion tons. Moreover, since synthetic polymers are durable, plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to break down. This wonder of technology has gotten a little out of hand. Plastic has saturated our environment, contaminated the animals we eat, and found its way into our bodily organs.
While it is true that the integration of plastic has been revolutionary, this invention has several downfalls the most devastating of which is Microplastics (MPs). Any plastic which is less than five millimeters is considered a MP. Some of them are primary microplastics such as products which are originally manufactured to be this small for use and most of them are secondary microplastics. Secondary MPs result from floating waste that is constantly exposed to UV radiation, which causes plastic to crumble into smaller and smaller pieces. Currently, there are about 51 trillion such particles floating in the ocean where they can be very easily swallowed by all kinds of marine life. A recent study has shown that two thirds of the fish we eat contain microplastics. Much of these microplastics become taken up into the atmosphere and rain down on land further spreading into plants and cattle and even reaching the Italian alps which is the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe.Furthermore, we are also exposed to MPs inside our homes as it was found that 39% of deposited dust particles we are exposed to indoors on a daily basis were microplastics. Additionally, microplastics have been even found in the placenta of unborn babies. For the first time this year, microplastics have been found in human blood with the study reporting that nearly 8 out of 10 (77%) people have it in their blood. On a local scale, sea water analyzed in Saida was found to have a high MP contamination with samples from Tripoli showing highest contamination. Microplastics need hundreds or thousands of years to decompose and while doing that they damage everyone, and everything exposed to them. In short, we are constantly exposed to microplastics in three ways: ingestion, inhalation, and through dermal contact.
Microplastics have been shown to leave a devastating effect on the environment. A German team found that the presence of microplastics in soil led to decreased microbial activity, increased pH, and disrupted soil respiration. Such effects may incrementally lead to disruption in the food supply due to significantly decreased crop yield putting the lives of millions at risk. Furthermore, microplastics have been also shown to damage aquatic life including fish which account for up to 20 percent of the average per-capita intake of animal protein according to the FAO. Research has shown that these ingested microplastics could block the intestinal tract of fish, causing internal injuries and the physical obstruction of feeding and digestion. Moreover, other sharp-edged microplastics may injure gill tissues of marine animals. Fish have also been found with abnormal body weight and fat percentage when exposed to microplastics. Nevertheless, these tiny plastic polymers readily absorb hydrophobic pollutants which inflict even more collateral damage on the whole aquatic system. This could ultimately lead to the disruption of marine ecosystems as well as the human food supply due to the decrease in marine fish population. The pollutants absorbed will ultimately be ingested by us leading to an increased risk of cancer and other disorders.
The range of damage of microplastics to the human body is currently being studied with various already published articles showing alarming results. Despite their microscopic sizes microplastics have been found to deal mechanical damage to internal tissue. For example, the presence of microplastics in lung lining leads to changes in shapes of lung cells as well as formation of gaps in what is typically a solid sheet of cells. Similar effects have been found in other epithelial tissue such as the intestinal lining. While mechanical damage is limited in larger organisms such as humans their toxic damage is very pronounced. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), identified as substances that are of external origin to humans which alter the endocrine system, are a part of nearly all microplastics either through the toxins they absorb or their raw components and additives. EDCs are of a particular concern as they carry a systemic threat to our whole body. To start, a report published by International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health emphasized that EDCs present in microplastics have the potential to cause metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, neurodevelopmental conditions such as learning disorders and autism spectrum disorders, and reproductive problems such as genital malformations and infertility. Heavy metals which can be absorbed by MPs or are a part of their composition have the ability to cause oxidative stress which can damage cells, proteins, DNA, and contribute to aging.
However, the list doesn’t stop there. Microplastic components have been shown to influence the immune system, especially those of children. Upon exposure, MPs have been found to induce local or systemic immune response and enough exposure in genetically susceptible individuals could lead to autoimmune diseases or immunosuppression. In such individuals the immune system becomes under oxidative stress leading to inappropriate activation of immune cells and production of antibodies against the person’s own cells. One of the autoimmune diseases linked to MPs could be systemic lupus erythematosus. This same research has also pointed to carcinogenic potential of MPs where breast cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer could be caused by EDCs present in MPs. Polystyrene, which is one of the most common plastics that enter the body by inhalation of dust particles, has been shown to alter the metabolism and growth rates of lung (alveolar) cells when tested in vitro. As aforementioned MPs could also lead to reproductive disorders as well birth defects. A study published by Harvard has shown that an EDC called di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) which is usually added to plastics to make them flexible, caused chromosomal disruption in egg cells and sperm cells that led to their death. In addition, DEHP decreased fertility and led to mutations in children which manifested as abnormalities later on.Such detrimental consequences to the environment and our health, stresses the need to develop strategies to limit MP exposure and decrease plastic pollution. Currently, the progress of the spread of MPs in ocean and sea water is tracked using NASA Satellite data. Such data gives scientists essential information as to where the majority of MPs collect and thus acts as a starting point in the cleaning up process as well as revealing which coastal areas are the most exposed to MP waste. The scientists are currently tracking the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is the area of greatest concentration of MPs. One proposed solution is to replace conventional plastics with biodegradable plastics (BDPs). BDPs are a subtype of bioplastics, which are plastics produced by microorganisms based on natural substances such as starch and can be biodegraded naturally in the environment. Unlike conventional MPs, they are degraded into substances such as carbon dioxide, water, and methane by microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae. Furthermore, they can be integrated into the natural ecosystem without producing ecological toxicity and residual by-products. This might seem appealing at first, but bioplastics do have their downsides. Although they solve the problem of longevity, additives are still needed for their functional use in various applications. This means that upon decomposition BDPs lead to the release of these additives back into the environment leading to the same above-mentioned health concerns. Another solution aims to remove MPs mechanically from the environment. The interceptor by the Ocean Cleanup Project is a floating catamaran powered by solar energy and made of a conveyor belt system that collects MPs and other plastics as it flows along the water. The interceptor has the ability to extract 50,000 kilograms of plastic per day under optimal conditions. It has collected 235,505 kg from 3 active interceptors in 2020 with 8 interceptors being currently deployed. One of the main benefits of this project is its scalability and feasibility. The only factor that is slowing down the progress of this project is funding. Lebanese engineers and scientists have not shied away from contributing to the cleaning up of MPs with 21 Lebanese projects being awarded EU grants to combat microplastic pollution in the Mediterranean. All of these projects fall under the campaign of Bahr Bala Plastic (بحر بلا بلاستيك). The focus of these projects lies on capturing microplastics, composting them, and recycling them for their use in other projects which is what Al Hourouf Association aims to do by using microplastics in the construction near Nahr Ibrahim. Other NGOs such as Byblos Ecologia NGO and firms such as Development Inc. SAL are upcycling plastics into furniture, class, and composites for construction. The Youth of Hope Association has a local equivalent of the Interceptor participating in the cleanup of the Qasmieh River. These projects have already proven their functionality but much more funding and recognition is required until globally noticeable progress can be seen. It is important that we recognize how damaging MPs can be to our health and surroundings and realize the extent to which we are exposed to them. The results of fully scaling projects such as the interceptor or other abovementioned local systems are indeed optimistic.
Edited by Mohamad Wehbe