The oceans aren’t the only ones that eat plastic! On average, a man ingests 52,000 microparticles of plastic each year. At least this is the conclusion reached by a canadian study, published on June 5, studying the lifestyles and consumption patterns of Americans.
Plastic is a pervasive pollution around us, and its use causes microparticles that we inhale or eat. Overall, depending on age and gender, plastic consumption ranges from 39,000 to 52,000 particles. But that doesn’t include the plastic pollution that is in the air. If we add this data, humans ingest between 74,000 and 121,000 microparticles per year!
Plastic in our contact lenses
But where are these plastic particles that we ingest? In your contact lenses for example, in the use of your car tires … Or in your clothes made of synthetic materials. Whether it’s your lungs or your stomach, you’re constantly ingesting plastic.
Do you drink bottled water? So add 90,000 microparticles to your score! It would therefore be preferable to drink tap water, which would lower the rate to just 4000 microparticles of plastic.
However, depending on the size of these particles, ingesting them is not necessarily dangerous. It is difficult to know precisely what the impact on human health is. Only some, small enough to penetrate the lungs, could really be harmful to your health.
Read also:
- After water, plastic also pollutes the air
- Childhood obesity is linked to pollution
