Recent research gives Tina Fey’s iconic Mean Girl’s line, “we’re the plastics” an all-too-literal new meaning. Just March this year, it was published that microplastics were found in the blood of 80% of the human subjects tested.  This fact not only shocked me, but caused me to take a fearful look at how pervasive plastic is within my everyday life. 

Almost everything I use is plastic, my containers, drinking bottles, food utensils and more. The amount of plastic used to hold the things I consume is even more startling when I consider the presence of microplastics in the bloodstreams of a large number of estimated people.

We have no idea what these microplastic particles are doing to our bodies, or what they could do as time goes on. These pollutant fibers contaminate all of Earth’s oceans, which means that the water we drink has a large chance of being contaminated from here on out. 

Yet still, not nearly enough scientific research has been conducted to pinpoint the main sources of this pollution or any ways to combat it. However, according to the report of scientist Cath Waller, it is predicted that around 90% of microplastics could be retained in wastewater treatment plants that discharge these plastic particles into large bodies of water. 

Not only do I call on scientists to increase the demand for research on microplastic pollution, I call on the government to create policies to combat it. Wastewater treatment plants and other potential sources of microplastic pollution should be regulated in ways that prevent the poisoning of the Earth’s water supply.

The expelled substances from these plants and structures alike should be contained and held accountable by law in order to ensure the long term health of humans and aquatic ecosystems. 

Small ocean species mistake these particles for food and consume them, then this poisonous food source travels up the food chain until humans are affected by the fish we harvest for food that is now contaminated with plastic we’re unaware of. 

The water we drink might all end up contaminated at some point if actions aren’t taken toward preservation. This is a call to action, we can’t keep poisoning our planet.