Plastics!  They are everywhere, they are getting worse, and the problem isn’t going away… (as if there isn’t enough else in the world to be concerned about)!  On October 21, 2020, Rob Hale, Professor in the Department of Aquatic Health Sciences at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science provided an on-line science-based informational talk to the Sierra Club’s York River Group about Plastics.  Dr. Hale has recently been published in the science journal Nature.

Plastics are polymers (chains of monomers).  Basically large molecules.  As a product of the chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, plastics are very durable and long lasting, which is helpful while the plastic objects are in use.  But what happens when plastics become trash?  Once they are created, plastic objects are essentially with us “forever.” They end up on the ground, in landfills, in waterways, and in the oceans.

Beside the obvious problem of plastic trash taking up space and causing pollution, plastics often include chemical additives that can be toxic.  These toxins can be released gradually over time (think BPA, an endocrine disrupter, that once went into a lot of plastic drinking bottles).  The toxins can also be released in large quantities if plastic is burned.

There is no good solution to plastics.  They can literally be found EVERYWHERE.  Of course they are widely used in packaging, but also in building construction and electronics.  They are very prevalent inside our homes as well (furniture, carpeting, beauty products, even clothing).  And when plastics (eventually) break down, they do not go away; they can form MICROplastics!  By definition, microplastics are less than 5 mm in size.  These tiny objects can go everywhere - ground, water, and air - and can be easily ingested by sea life or animal life (including humans).  This is one way that the toxic additives in plastics can enter the food chain, especially in marine life.  Microplastics are also made on purpose, for example as scrubbing agents in industrial abrasives and microbeads in facial scrubs.

The plastics industry is guilty of a lot of misinformation, in their goal to expand the use of plastics and increase their profits.  For example, they don’t want people to take reusable bags when they shop, they want more and more one-time plastic bag usage.

What can you do?  Hunter Noffsinger, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Sierra Club in Hampton Roads, made some suggestions during the presentation. Try to raise everyone’s awareness about the problem.  In particular, make the connection between the plastics industry and “big oil.”  The two groups are inextricably linked.  Write letters to the editor.  Write your legislators.  Opine against single-use plastics.  Recycle plastics if possible.  Bring your own reusable bags when you shop.  An environmental organization recently started in Virginia is the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network.