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Fulton Schools: In the News

Recycling doesn’t keep plastic out of our stomachs, lungs, or blood, experts say

Recycling doesn’t keep plastic out of our stomachs, lungs, or blood, experts say

The longtime and widespread use of plastics as containers and in a vast number of other consumer products has resulted in growing accumulations of tons upon tons of plastics waste around the world. The outcome is that microplastics are abundant in our water, food and air — and, as researchers have found, in our bodies — including in our organs and blood. Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden and other environmental engineers and scientists now say that recycling efforts are falling short as an effective method to reduce our exposure to microplastics and the dangers they present for human health. Halden and fellow experts say industries must start replacing plastics with the use of less toxic materials that won’t stay in the environment over decades and even centuries. Some researchers are already producing designs for materials made from more biodegradable sources.

See Also: Recycling won’t prevent microplastic from entering human bodies, say experts, Business Insider, April 8

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