Plastic is in everything, from beer to table salt

IT HAS become virtually impossible to escape eating plastic, but its health implications are largely unknown. Microplastics have been found in all forms of marine life, in table salt, honey, sugar, beer, organic fertilizers, in the dust in our homes, and in samples of bottled and tap water. Chemicals used in plastic production have been found to interfere with the development of sexual organs in animals and fish. It is feared that plastics could also deliver toxic chemicals – such as poisonous metals or hormones that interfere with normal sexual development – directly into our bodies. Dr Stephanie Wright, a research fellow at King’s College London, said: ‘There is no published evidence to indicate what the health effects might be. ‘It is likely that the larger particles are just passing through. ‘Smaller particles could potentially cross the gut wall and redistribute to target tissues.’