Reports have emerged suggesting that plastic particles are making their way into our bodies, clogging arteries that may be leading to cardiovascular events. Is this something that people should be concerned about?
What are plastics? They are a polymeric material with many desirable properties that have made their use ubiquitous. They are inexpensive to produce and can be molded into numerous shapes. They have been around for well over a century, with World War II accelerating their uses and applications. Recall that plastics were described with having a “great future” in the movie “The Graduate.”
A big downside of some plastics is that they do not biodegrade; once they are discarded into landfills, they remain intact in perpetuity. This has fueled an industry around plastic recycling, either by reusing items or reprocessing them into other consumer or industrial products.
Concerns about the impact of plastics…
