Father Marciano Baptista SJ
In this article I shall give a very limited introduction to microplastics and nanoplastics and their effect on human beings. We must remember that Genesis ch. 1 verses 27 and 28 gives us the ability and power to rule over all the fish and the birds and all living things. What have we human beings done? This short paper will help us to reflect on the behaviour of human beings in these last hundred or so years.
Plastics are made by a process called polymerization or the joining together of many hydrocarbon molecules to form one long chain or possibly sometimes a flat surface.
Perhaps one of the first plastics discovered was Bakelite in 1907. It was used to make many things including radios, telephones and many other things. Then one can mention Kevlar [the plastic that could stop bullets] discovered in 1965. Then who can forget Teflon which coated the lovely non-stick frying pans [invented in 1930s].
There are so many other plastics which if I had an Organic Chemistry dictionary I could probably list another hundred or so more. But that is not the aim of this article.
I should at least mention the huge number of tons of plastics which are waste products on our land and in the oceans, but this is another topic which requires much more research. Unfortunately I do not have the expertise or ability to do this research, but others may perhaps be doing part of this research.
At the moment I think I can say that the effect on the fish, birds and other sea and land creature must be considerable.
Then what about microplastics? I think I shall use some simple examples. Let us say that I have a good pair of shoes. As I walk on hard ground, for example, the tile floor in my kitchen, I make microplastics, which are very small.
Microplastics are about 5 millimetres in size. How many particles of microplastic are produced and what wil happen to them? Well, that depends on many factors. For instance on a hot, dry summer’s day I could be breathing in some of the microplastics my shoes produced. These microplastic particles are so small that some enter our bloodstream and lymphatic systems.
I shall try to simplify this article from now on. What can happen to microplastic particles. Some of the worst effects are that they could penetrate the brain-barrier, pass through a pregnant woman’s placenta and lodge in our lungs.
I shall list three ways [there are more ways] to rid ourselves of microplastics. Avoid plastic utensils, don’t buy food in a plastic box and in general eat fresh foods. As I said there are more ways; but for simplicity’s sake I have just listed three ways.
How do microplastics affect our brain? I have tried to find definite material on this topic, but I could not find clear, scientific answers to this question. But my instinct is that microplastics in my brain will do me no good. Usually the brain barrier prevents most things from getting into my brain; but microplastics have been found in human brains [and rat brains]. So this is an important area for research on the microplatics’ effect on the brain, and how to get rid of these particles [if possible].
Then how do we get rid of the microplastics from the placenta, from the liver, kidney, lungs and so on. I could only find some ways of getting rid of the microplastics from the lung.
Using deep breathing exercise helps get rid of microplastics from our lungs. I could not find any easy ways for removing microplastics from the placenta, liver, kidney and other parts of the body. I could not find anything for getting rid of microplastics from my brain!
Of course microplastics affect all living things [birds, fish, and all other species on land and in the sea]. We must remember that we created these microplastics; so obviously we are not keeping the rules implicitly given to us by God in Genesis 1:27-28.
What then are nanoplastics? These are even smaller particles than micro plastics. A neoplastic particle is about a billionth of a metre in length. Some are slightly bigger, up to 500 billionth of a metre.
It seems obvious that nanoplatics move through our blood systems and our lymphatic systems more easily than micro plastics because they are smaller than microplastics. I believe that because of their small size, they are much more difficult to get rid of from our blood and lymphatic systems.
One final point. Car tires produce more than 70 per cent of microplastics in our oceans [so a recent study says]. It seems too that nanoplastics because of their small size do indeed enter our blood stream and lymphatic systems and could possible enter most of our organs. Furthermore, at the moment scientists do not know how we can get rid of the nanoplastics from our body!
Since the above data seems to be correct, we have indeed gone against God’s allowing us to have power over all the fish, birds and living things in our world. Microplastics and nanoplastics may in fact infect almost every species in the world. And we can meditate on the fact that we [created in the image and likeness of God] are responsible for producing both microplastics and nanoplastics.
