How Much Plastic Packaging Ends Up in Our Bodies?

When you're out shopping, finding food not encased in some kind of plastic is no easy task. In fact, per Modern Farmer, a recent study of Canadian grocery stores found 71% of products on their shelves were packaged in plastic; for baby food, it was even higher, at 76%. While we've learned to accept that sometimes apples just come in cling wrap, research keeps showing that food packaging doesn't just end up in landfills—it also turns up our bodies.

• How much are we ingesting? One study shows we each inhale or ingest from food about 16 tiny pieces of plastic every hour. Other research equates the amount to about 5 grams, the weight of a credit card, per week, which Salon dives into the particulars on. "All these plastics have different chemical risks associated with them. None of them are good," Erica Cirino of Plastic Pollution Coalition told Modern Farmer.
• Not just from packaging: Consumer Reports did a deep dive into microplastics in packaged foods and found 84 out of 85 products tested contained phthalates, while 79% had BPAs. Along with packaging, chemicals find their way into food via air pollution, agricultural practices, and manufacturing.
• Worst packaging: Per the Hill, a new study finds that chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system leached into food via plastic packaging from some types of plastic more than others. The most "potent effects" on human cells came from LDPE (a polymer used in Ziploc-style bags), PVC (found in cling wrap), and polyurethane (used in food packaging like cheese wrappers).
• The switch: Moving to single-use plastic from organic materials (like wrapping food in leaves) or other manufactured packaging, like bottles and tins, came post-WWII. At the time, it was marketed for its convenience. Global plastic pollution has since risen to over 400 million tons per year, and Cirino says upward of 40% of plastic produced today is single-use, "an astounding amount."
• Stuck with it? Manufacturers tout cost-effective plastic as cleaner and for giving food a longer shelf-life, and they've shifted the responsibility of disposing of or recycling it to consumers. Plastic production—a growth industry as fossil fuel companies feel the heat over climate change—is set to triple by 2060. A return to reusing and refilling, more recycling education, and consuming less are all ways to shift away from that forecast.

(Chemicals in plastic cost the US $249 billion in health care.)