I thought my body was safe from microplastics. I was wrong
Ziya Tong had her home, food and body tested for microplastics while making the documentary Plastic People
Nothing will radicalize you like seeing another person's garbage in your body.
In my blood, in my lungs and in my guts, there are tiny, invisible particles of plastic bags, medical waste, tire dust, synthetic clothing and food packaging.
Making the film Plastic People made me realize I am a human landfill.
In the documentary, from The Nature of Things, I have my home, food and body tested for microplastics as part of an investigation into our addiction to plastic — and the growing threat to human health.
I began the journey thinking my body was relatively pristine.
As a bona fide eco-nerd, I thought there couldn't be that much plastic in my home. My rug and sofa are made of natural fibres; I don't eat a lot of fast food; I even use beeswax wraps for my leftovers.
And this is why, when we first began discussing ideas for the film, I thought I should try to burden my body with extra plastic — by eating shellfish, for example, which I don't normally do — to see if we could detect a spike in my system.
Turns out that wasn't necessary. My body was already inundated.
When we trash the environment, we inevitably trash our bodies too
While the science is new, studies on microplastics in the human body are revealing just how insidious the tiny toxic particles are.
A recent study looking at the human brain, for instance, found we may have anywhere from five to seven grams of plastic lodged between our ears (though experts I spoke with suggested the actual number is not that high). Seven grams of plastic — the high end of the estimate — is roughly the weight of a disposable plastic spoon.
It's a fitting image when you consider that an estimated 40 billion plastic utensils are used and thrown away every single year in the United States alone. And that plastic doesn't disappear. It breaks down into tiny pieces that sweep into our oceans, are buried in the soil and drift into the air.
We breathe in that plastic. We eat that plastic. We drink that plastic (about 80 per cent of tap water contains microplastics).
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that when we trash the environment, we inevitably trash our bodies too. Still, reading about microplastics in the headlines is one thing, but seeing that garbage in your body is quite another.
We are becoming plastic people
For the documentary, I travelled around the world and met with scientists to test the microplastic burden in my body.
I will spare you the gory details of having to test my feces (very unglamorous), but it was the microplastics in my blood that I found most shocking. My samples were tested as part of a double-blind study. In the film, researchers were finding an average of 11 microplastic particles in 2.5 millilitres of blood — the equivalent of half a teaspoon.
Now, keep in mind the average adult has about five litres of blood in their body. If just 2.5 millilitres contains 11 microplastic particles, do the math and consider how much garbage is coursing through your body. We are literally becoming plastic people.
Can we stop plastic pollution?
The thing is, while plastic is ubiquitous, most of us still don't see it in our surroundings. That's because so much plastic is invisible and hides where you'd least expect it: in paint, flooring, paper cups, clothes, chewing gum, cigarette butts, makeup, sunscreen — it's even in our produce stickers.
It goes without saying that the campaigns that focus solely on banning plastic straws or bags are missing the mark.
This brings us to the question I'm most often asked: what can be done to stop plastic pollution?
The good news is there are some very smart and dedicated people working to ban single-use plastics. Right now, the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations are taking place, with 170 countries working on a legal framework to stop plastics pollution. There is also a growing business coalition, which is working toward systemic change and a circular economy.
There are Plastic Free Communities around the world, where residents are fighting against single-use plastics, and in Plastic People, we delve into new technologies and plastic alternatives. So there absolutely is hope, and there are solutions.
The very first step to solving a big problem is identifying it and naming it. Ten years ago, few people even knew the problem of microplastics existed. Today, the tiny, invisible threat is making front-page news.
The key thing to remember is that we do know how to solve big problems. Just as DDT was phased out in the 1970s after we understood its harms, if we work together to ban single-use plastics now, we will reduce the harmful effects of microplastics on the planetary body and, importantly, on the human body too.
Watch Plastic People on CBC Gem and the CBC Docs YouTube channel.
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