The news that plastic is entering our daily food is no longer new. Recently, it has been increasingly emphasized that uncontrolled plastic waste is continuously ending up in rivers and wetlands.
Fish are consuming this waste, which is then entering the human food chain. And it’s not just fish—plastic is now mixing into our water, salt, sugar, flour, and even the air.
Shockingly, traces of plastic have been found in breast milk, human embryos, and sperm cells. This is why plastic has become a global source of panic!
Yesterday was World Earth Day, and this year’s theme was “Our Power, Our Earth.” On this occasion, the environmental and health disasters caused by soil contamination were widely discussed.
In particular, the entry of microplastics into our bodies from soil, water, and food, and the dangerous consequences thereof, gained special attention. These tiny plastic particles are silently and invisibly poisoning life and nature; yet because they are so small, we hardly pay attention to them.
However, in the long term, they are considered extremely hazardous to all of humanity. Microplastics are smaller than five millimeters. Continuous intake of these toxic particles over time can lead to deadly diseases.
To combat this, Bangladesh was the first country in the world to ban polythene bags in 2002. More recently, a nationwide campaign has been launched against polythene and plastic. However, the situation is still not improving.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, around 100,000 marine animals die each year due to plastic pollution. Nearly 73,000 tons of plastic waste from within Bangladesh alone end up in the ocean daily.
In terms of volume, this ranks fifth in the world. An international research team found over 2.5 million floating particles per square kilometer in the waters of the old Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh, and about 450 microplastic particles per kilogram of riverbed soil. Researchers even claim that microplastics are present in rice grown in the haor wetlands.
In April last year, a report from Jessore University of Science and Technology revealed that dust in Bangladesh’s divisional cities contains an average of 52 microplastic particles per gram, and in Dhaka, 106 particles per gram.
A truly horrifying picture! Another study by environmental scientists at Jahangirnagar University found more than 2,500 plastic particles per kilogram of salt we commonly use. Based on this, the average person in Bangladesh consumes nearly 13,000 microplastic particles each year.
And it’s not just salt—microplastics have also been found in sugar and even tea bags. About 73% of the country’s fish contain microplastic particles. Furthermore, 90% of collected frogs, along with groundwater samples, showed microplastics in their digestive systems.
The root cause of this situation is the unmanaged plastic we use daily. To stop plastic pollution, companies must take responsibility for managing their plastic waste. A social movement is needed to eliminate polythene shopping bags.
It is essential to control the use of non-biodegradable solid waste like plastic products and polythene bags, and ensure their safe disposal. Modern, scientifically sound methods must be introduced for the collection, separation, and processing of non-biodegradable plastic waste.
Recycling efforts can help limit the volume of plastic waste. Alongside this, affordable cloth or jute bags should be made easily accessible to the public as alternatives to polythene bags.
People should be encouraged to use utensils made from glass, aluminum, ceramic, or clay. All plastic-made products must be discarded.
Only by ending the use of plastic products can we save public health and the Earth from the environmental disaster caused by plastic waste.
