EP 932 Once, Plastics was the Future: Now Some Say It Should be a Thing of the Past

There is a growing awareness about the increasing dangers of plastic.  We see it everywhere, yet some of the invisible plastics contamination, called microplastics or nano-plastics, may be as insidious as what can see. It can be found everywhere in our environment–even our bodies–as a persistent, accumulating toxin, with carcinogens and other hazards.  Our guest, Dr. Jason White, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, along with colleagues from Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a grant from the USDA, has been studying how plastics are getting into the food that we eat. Plastics are routinely found in agricultural soils and irrigation water.  Tiny shards can slip through water treatment plants into the public water supply and end up in fertilizers, as well.  Agricultural products not only absorb the plastic particles but also increase the accumulation of heavy metals, lead and cadmium, as well as PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals.’ Increasing health risks to humans include heart attack, stroke and colon and lunge cancer.  It’s a distressing picture. Dr. White describes what his research is finding and ways to remediate the problem.

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