#Is chewing on plastic bad for you free#

This may happen because of the direct effects of chronic plastic exposure or due to the other forms of damage that plastics can cause. Cancer: Exposure to plastics may also increase the risk of cancer.The thyroid regulates several important functions and plays a role in controlling hormones that affect fertility. Thyroid damage: Exposure to microplastics may damage the thyroid.This can affect fertility, behavior, and overall health. Endocrine disruption: Plastic may be an endocrine disruptor, which means that it can change the way the endocrine system and the hormones it controls behave.Neurotoxic effects: Exposure to plastics may damage the neurons, increasing the risk of brain health issues such as dementia.This may have wide reaching implications for a personвЂ™s health, including increasing their risk of serious health issues, such as cancer and heart attack.

#Is chewing on plastic bad for you free#

Oxidative stress: This is an imbalance between antioxidants and damaging free radicals in the body.

Some potential effects of eating microplastic-contaminated seafood include: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not yet developed a guideline or limit on the consumption of many sources of microplastics, so the amount of contamination in different types of seafood may vary. It is also difficult to control studies into the effects of microplastics, since people may have microplastic exposure from other sources than seafood alone. It may take decades to fully understand the effects of microplastics, since some might be cumulative, appearing only after several years. Researchers do not yet fully know the effects of consuming plastic-contaminated seafood on human health. There is no way to eliminate microplastics from an animal once they are present, and there is no source of wild seafood that can guarantee that their products contain no microplastics at all.ДЄre there health risks to eating plastic-contaminated seafood? Humans, at the top of the food chain, may then eat plastic-contaminated animals. This occurs because smaller animals eat plastics, then larger animals eat those animals, and larger animals again eat those animals, all of which allow microplastic levels to continue accumulating.

The closer to the top of the food chain an animal is, the more likely it is to eat lots of microplastics. Plastics, and especially microplastics, can travel up the food chain. For example, one 2020 study of two fish species in a river found that 100% of these fish had microplastics in their bodies. Research consistently finds microplastics in a wide variety of animals, in both oceans and rivers that feed into the oceans. Microplastics are highly prevalent in seafood due to the vast quantity of them in the ocean. It is worth noting that the United States banned the use of microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products in 2015. These small pieces of plastic are common in some exfoliating products and toothpastes because they are a cheaper alternative to nonplastic ingredients.Д¬onsumers can check their beauty products by looking for microbeads on the label, or by using the Beat the Microbead app. For example, cosmetic companies first began using tiny pieces of plastic in beauty products about 5 decades ago. Some manufacturers may also use microplastics in their products. Larger pieces of plastic can become microplastics as they break down over time and move around the ocean. Animals may mistake them for food or accidentally consume them when eating other food. Their small size means that they can travel easily throughout the ocean.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters long. However, in recent years, researchers have also turned their attention toward microplastics. Larger pieces of plastic present a number of health risks for sea life, as plants and animals can become entangled in them. Share on Pinterest Image credit: Pier Luigi Trigila/EyeEm/Getty Images