A new study published in Nature Communications has revealed how nanoplastics — tiny fragments shed from plastic waste — can infiltrate various life forms, leading to dire consequences.
What's happening?
While the health issues and environmental damage of microplastics have been a hot topic, the science of nanoplastics and how they infiltrate our earth and bodies is still being uncovered.
The study helps explain the process by which micro- and nanoplastics break down.
An article on Phys.org featured an interview with Sanat Kumar, a professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University, who worked on the study. Kumar explained how plastic is made up of soft and hard layers.
"What we show in the new study is how easily those soft connectors break even under quiescent conditions such as in a landfill," Kumar said. "Once that layer fails, the hard segments have nowhere to go — they scatter into the environment."
Why is the study important?
The health implications of plastics have been evident in recent studies, such as the effects of microplastics on cognitive diseases, as well as the synthetic chemicals in plastic production being linked to issues like obesity, miscarriages, and premature death.
With a focus on nanoplastics, which are even smaller than microplastics, the harm they can cause is on a cellular level.
"These pieces float around, and some end up in human bodies." Kumar said. "The smallest pieces pass through cells and into the nucleus, where they can start messing with DNA."
In turn, Kumar said, nanoplastics in the human body raise the chances of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and more.
What's being done about nanoplastics?
The Nature Communications study does present some hope for the future. While the cessation of plastic production entirely is unlikely, a reapproach to plastic manufacturing, such as using stronger soft layers, could help ease this issue.
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Majorly 😥 As for what individuals can do, reducing and avoiding the use of plastic products is best, followed by reusing and recycling. Currently, as little as 2% of plastic is actually recycled, due to the expensive nature of recycling and a lack of infrastructure.
"If you have to choose between the health problems that could be created by the nanoplastics vs. the cost of recycling, then maybe it's actually cheaper to recycle," Kumar said. Nonetheless, while glass and aluminum are infinitely recyclable, plastic can only be recycled a handful of times before the material loses its ability to be recycled again, so reducing is still a far superior option.
Beyond favoring paper, glass, and aluminum packaging, you can also turn to eco-friendly plastic alternatives, such as bioplastics and molded fiber options, to further cut down your chances of interacting with nanoplastics or contributing to their presence in landfills.
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