Our exposure to plastics and the resulting health impacts have been getting much-deserved attention lately. It is difficult to overstate how much plastic in food packaging is contributing to high levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in human bodies – and the effect this has on everyday lives. Children are especially vulnerable, exposed as they are from before conception onwards.

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have invaded the innermost recesses of our bodies: blood, brains, lungs, testes, placentas, meconium, and breast milk. Between 2016 and 2024, the concentration of MNPs in human brains has increased by 50%, to the equivalent of five bottle caps per person, and the brains of dementia patients show significantly higher levels of microplastics—up to 10 times more than the brains of healthy people.[i] One study found MNPs in every placenta tested.[ii] Another study in Hawaii found that the percentage of placentas so contaminated had increased steadily from 60% in 2006 to 90% in 2013 to 100% in 2021.[iii] And while research into MNPs is in its infancy, what we know about the health harms of chemicals loosely bound to plastic is robust.

Chemicals in plastics keep showing up in places that seem unexpected and that are most certainly unwelcome.

They are certainly not welcome in baby food.

Figure 2: Plastic Reboot: https://youtu.be/rOcfTpsp8zw

We need more projects like these! You can also find their guide to their Refill & Reuse systems at chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://cdn.sanity.io/files/jor2sqtq/production/653fdb6a0d3e1dea28a66a22d26f45b3b398a401.pdf

And remember: it’s not just “reduce, reuse, recycle.” REFUSE may be the most important one of the eight “R’s.” To the degree that is possible, decide that you will act as if you already live in a world free of plastic pollution by refusing to add to the problem.