Humans Are Consuming A Credit Card Worth Of Plastic Every Week: This Is Bad, And This Should Scare You

Humans Are Consuming A Credit Card Worth Of Plastic Every Week: This Is Bad, And This Should Scare You

You probably didn’t know that with that last dish of shellfish that you enjoyed, your stomach tried its best to digest the plastic that went with it.

Yes, you read that right. An average human is ingesting every week, almost as much as the average credit card.

And shellfish are not the only way through which plastic is entering our system: The indestructible human-made calamity has found its way into us, through multiple ways.

What are the other ways through which humans are ingesting plastic? How much plastic is being consumed by us?

Get prepared for the shock.

The Average Human Consumes One Credit Card Per Week

Researchers at University of Newcastle, Australia, commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature have drafted a report that states that the average human consumes as much as 2000 tiny pieces of plastic every week, or 5 grams of microplastic every week, which is as much a credit card.

Which means we are consuming 100,000 microplastics every year, 21 grams a month, just over 250 grams a year.

The report, titled, ‘Could you be eating a credit card a week?’ states that along with shellfish, bottled water, tap water, beer, honey and salt are some other medium through which plastic is entering our body.

How does so much plastic enter our body? It’s a simple case of what goes around comes around! The vast amount of plastic, a massive eight million tonnes, that is dumped in the ocean breaks down into fragments, called microplastics.

These microplastics are diminutive enough to enter the food chain and end up in our stomachs without the slightest warning.

How Will This Affect Us? What Should We Do Next?

There has been no update yet that informs how it will harm our biological systems, but it is warning enough to start doing something about it. No one would obviously ignore if they swallowed a credit card whole, would they?

The report aptly expresses the worry that has now crept in our hearts, saying, “What we do know is the leakage of plastic pollution into nature and ultimately into the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink is inescapable. This is alarming, and so far it’s been met with an inadequate global response by governments worldwide. This needs to be addressed immediately.”

Up until now, we probably were aware of the extent to which plastic is harmful to the environment. But now that it’s something that is holding a sword over our necks, we need to start taking some urgent steps to tear the web of danger this poisonous invention has spun around us.

It is necessary to stop or at least minimize the use of plastic in our daily lives. It is our duty as much as it is the government’s to keep a check on the use and disposal of plastic.

What will you do to minimize the use of plastic?

Image Source (Getty)