When Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented plastic in 1907, he accomplished two feats.

First, he combined the chemicals formaldehyde and phenol under heat and pressure to form a substance which was plastic, meaning malleable.

Now there is plastic, plastic everywhere, in every drop we drink. Plastics have been measured from Antarctic ice (recall nurdles in my columns on Antarctica) to Easter Island.

Second, he beat his Scottish rival James Swinburne to the patent office by a day. Little could either of these men have fathomed that a century later, their invention would literally be spread around the earth.

For years, researchers have reported the ominous presence of microplastics in tap and bottled water.

Microplastics are particles of size 1-5 millimeters. Their effect is still largely unknown, which is scary enough in itself.
 
Scarier still is the Columbia University report that 90 percent of bottled water from three popular brands contains nanoplastics, which measure in the billionths of a meter. Their tiny size allows them to be absorbed into human cells, even crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Pollutants, pathogens, and substances which are generally benign can hitch a ride into animal (including human) cells on these minute plastics, interfering with the actions of the tissues.

Research into the effects of nanoplastics on animals is in its infancy, but results on fish and rodents so far suggest a “strong, negative influence on health.” Studies have shown they interfere with development, reproductive ability, gut health, hormone levels, immune responses, and the heart.

More than 80 percent of human food products tested contained one or both of two chemicals (phthalates and bisphenols), which are endocrine disruptors, interfering with hormones.

Exposure to these chemicals over time is associated with higher risks of diabetes, obesity, cancers, and fertility problems, according to James E. Rogers, microbiologist and acting director of product safety at Consumer Reports. But the problem begins earlier: newborn human babies’ first bowel movements contain nanoplastics.

These effects put them squarely in the realm of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” revelations. Her 1962 book revealed the side effects of using manmade chemicals, especially the then-popular pesticide DDT.

Carson warned about poisoning our environment, presaging exactly what happened off our coast with the local extinction of bald eagles and near-extinction of brown pelicans in the 1970s.

The extent and effects of DDT poisoning the California marine environment are still being uncovered six or more decades after the contamination.

How long will the nanoplastics problem linger in our environment – once we start dealing with it? The bits are inhaled, ingested, and absorbed through the skin whether we’re in Santa Barbara or on Mt. Whitney; whether we’re a zooplankton or a human blood, lung, or brain cell.

So who is to blame for this particular disaster? Two of the largest sources of nanoplastics are laundering synthetic clothing and the gradual breakdown of automobile tires as they roll us to our destinations.

Other sources run the gamut from plastic packaging to wastewater treatment plants to construction, tourism, household good, and cosmetics. It is us.

For those of us with freedom to make choices, the short-term answer is to make careful and diligent ones.

“You may not be able to get to zero exposure, but at least you can reduce your risk by reducing your exposure,” Rogers advises. “Cut out the fast food. Eat less processed foods. Eat less fatty food.”

Drink tap water, not bottled. Tap water also contains nanoplastics, but in much lower concentrations than bottled water. (Does the nanoplastics revelation explain the recent run on Stanley stainless steel tumblers?)

Get yourself a fancy drink tumbler and give yourself a hug every time you use it to turn down a single-use container.
 
Importantly, not everyone has the resources – the economic freedom – to choose. For that, we must collectively choose political leaders who will make the hard choices on our behalf.

Some good models are emerging. Since 2021, single-use plastics are banned from market shelved of European Union member states. Belgians and Scotts got the jump start on plastics, but their EU is also leading the way in moving beyond them.