Speaker 1: You're listening to a CNA podcast.
Speaker 1: Microplastics, there's a lot of mystery and uncertainty about the
Speaker 1: science behind these tiny particles that are all around and
Speaker 1: inside us. How much are we being exposed to in
Speaker 1: our daily life? What are the health implications and what
Speaker 1: can we do about it? Today we're looking at a
Speaker 1: new academic report and checking for plastic in the bloodstream.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Climate Conversations. I'm Jack Bor. Welcome,
Speaker 1: Lee Ling Tan, how are you? Hi,
Speaker 2: Jack, I'm very well, thank you. I've had 3 cups
Speaker 2: of coffee, so I'm bouncing off the walls. I can't
Speaker 2: wait for the weekend. Woohoo! How are you? How are
Speaker 2: you doing?
Speaker 1: 3 coffees already. I've had 1, but I see what
Speaker 1: kind of headspace you're in, it's gonna
Speaker 2: be interesting.
Speaker 1: Yep, I'm good. Before we get too optimistic, before we
Speaker 1: look forward to the weekend, we gotta get through this.
Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk about microplastics. How many of them
Speaker 1: do you think you have in your body?
Speaker 2: Oh, quite a bit. Wasn't there a study some time
Speaker 2: back that estimated we could be consuming a credit card
Speaker 2: worth of microplastics a week? That's probably how much microplastics
Speaker 2: I have in me right now, Jack.
Speaker 1: OK. Yeah, I've seen this report. I'm, I'm quite sure
Speaker 1: it's been widely discredited.
Speaker 1: And they definitely overestimated how many microplastics we're eating. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like credit card. That's
Speaker 2: a
Speaker 1: lot
Speaker 2: a week.
Speaker 1: That's too much, it's far too much. But still we
Speaker 1: are eating plastics. Does that concern you? No,
Speaker 2: absolutely. It concerns me. It makes me wonder what kind
Speaker 2: of long term effects that would have on our bodies.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think we're going to bring in
Speaker 2: a little bit of a silver lining today, right? There's
Speaker 2: a new study that shows maybe, just maybe.
Speaker 2: Our bodies are working to get rid of them. Maybe.
Speaker 2: What about you? Are you worried?
Speaker 1: Silver lining. That doesn't sound like you normally.
Speaker 2: It's the coffee. It's the 3 cups of coffee. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's made an optimist out of me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm kind of worried about the impacts on our
Speaker 1: general environment on the planet, just the amounts of plastics
Speaker 1: that are out there. Uh, we'll get into all of that.
Speaker 1: In a minute, but first up, you can't avoid, in
Speaker 1: your bloodstream, the quiz. OK. Now, it's another ranking challenge,
Speaker 1: which we've done a few weeks in a row, but
Speaker 1: they're so fun. So I'm gonna give you another one
Speaker 1: of those this. Hey, you've been doing pretty well the
Speaker 1: last few times. It's related to microplastics. It's, it's based
Speaker 1: on an Italian study.
Speaker 1: That looked at regular fruits and vegetables. I want you
Speaker 1: to tell me which of these had the highest levels
Speaker 1: of microplastics contained within them when they were tested during
Speaker 1: this study.
Speaker 1: Now we have apples, we have carrots, pears, and lettuce.
Speaker 1: So 4 fairly common types of foods. Spoiler, like everything
Speaker 1: we seemingly consume, they all had microplastics inside them.
Speaker 2: OK, so
Speaker 2: apples, carrots, pears, and lettuce,
Speaker 2: right?
Speaker 1: No sound effects for
Speaker 2: the
Speaker 2: last one we had the animals. That was a bit corny.
Speaker 2: But anyway, I think this is a good one. Let's
Speaker 2: all have a think and then you know, for our
Speaker 2: listeners to give them a chance to put answers, their
Speaker 2: answers in the comment section and then see if you
Speaker 2: do better than I do when we get to the
Speaker 2: answers later.
Speaker 1: Now for our main story this week, how worried should
Speaker 1: we be about a rising number of microplastics in our
Speaker 1: bodies and especially our brains. A new report published in
Speaker 1: Nature Medicine looked at the issue. The findings are good
Speaker 1: and bad, and a little nuanced. Over an eight year period,
Speaker 1: the amount of tiny plastic particles found in examined human
Speaker 1: brain tissue rose substantially.
Speaker 1: Looking at the brains of cadavers, the researchers found that
Speaker 1: about 0.5% of the mass was plastic. So basically, 99.5% brain,
Speaker 1: the rest plastic, about the equivalent of a plastic spoon.
Speaker 1: In your head.
Speaker 2: That's giving me the heebie-jeebies. That's wow, 0.5% is a lot.
Speaker 1: So these were, these were people at a, at an
Speaker 1: average age of 40 to 50 years old. The amount
Speaker 1: of plastics detected were much higher in the brain as
Speaker 1: well than in the kidneys or the liver. So, any
Speaker 1: more concerns from you at this point? Do we need
Speaker 1: to stop
Speaker 1: again?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's a lot of plastics taking up space
Speaker 2: in my system rent-free.
Speaker 2: But hey, the study also uncovered a little bit of
Speaker 2: what could be potential silver linings. The research involved autopsies
Speaker 2: over 8 years and it found that plastic levels did
Speaker 2: not actually vary much with age, and this suggests that
Speaker 2: maybe people can expel the material over time, which means
Speaker 2: that
Speaker 2: There can be ways to manage this microplastic content inside
Speaker 2: our bodies, especially in our brains where they seem to
Speaker 2: be accumulating,
Speaker 1: right? And apparently finding plastic deposits in the brain does
Speaker 1: not prove that they cause damage either, according to an
Speaker 1: expert from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Um, now, she
Speaker 1: wasn't actually involved in the study that we're talking about,
Speaker 1: but she was cited.
Speaker 1: In a CNN story saying it's not yet clear if
Speaker 1: these particles are entering and leaving the brain or if
Speaker 1: they collect in in brain tissues and and promote disease.
Speaker 1: So definitely more research is needed. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I think what was quite worrying for me too
Speaker 2: is that the study that we were talking about found
Speaker 2: that the plastic concentration in the brain samples were 7
Speaker 2: to 30 times more than in the liver.
Speaker 2: And kidney samples and that could be because these lower
Speaker 2: organs are built to flush stuff out of the system.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it seems to be accumulating more in the brain.
Speaker 1: And I think what was important to also note was
Speaker 1: that researchers here attributed the rise of the plastics in
Speaker 1: the body in the brain.
Speaker 1: Just as a reflection of the plastics in our environment,
Speaker 1: so there are higher amounts of microplastics detected, but it's
Speaker 1: only because they've increased at an extreme rate all around us,
Speaker 1: rather than they're just simply accumulating inside of us. Mhm.
Speaker 1: So let's, I guess talk about what microplastics really are
Speaker 1: and why they're out there. OK, Lee, imagine the world.
Speaker 1: Can you do that?
Speaker 2: Imagine the
Speaker 2: ocean. I can hear the
Speaker 1: waves, the land, the air, and then all the plastic
Speaker 1: waste that we as humans have created basically everywhere.
Speaker 1: And the numbers of that beyond our imagination, really, more
Speaker 1: than 6 billion tons of discarded plastic are out there
Speaker 1: in the environment. And that might actually be an undercount,
Speaker 1: there might be much more. And because it takes a
Speaker 1: plastic bottle, for example, about 450 years to break down,
Speaker 1: it means that every single piece of plastic ever made,
Speaker 1: all those bottles are still out there. If it, if
Speaker 1: it hasn't been incinerated or turned into something else.
Speaker 1: Now, all of this plastic is also degrading. It's breaking
Speaker 1: up into microscopic pieces, it's infiltrating the planet. It's being
Speaker 1: consumed by animals and fish, and they get absorbed by
Speaker 1: our food, they enter our water supply and into the
Speaker 1: atmosphere where we breathe them in. So, not so surprising
Speaker 1: that we're starting to find more and more microplastics inside
Speaker 1: our body.
Speaker 1: That kind of feels inevitable and also kind of seems
Speaker 1: irreversible at this stage. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think this study gives us an idea of how
Speaker 2: bad it is, but the issue with microplastics has been
Speaker 2: going on for so long. So you talked about accumulating
Speaker 2: in animals and fish, but
Speaker 2: A lot of the microplastics in our system also come
Speaker 2: from other non-animal food sources as well, like fruits and vegetables,
Speaker 2: even teas and salt, especially, you know, that Himalayan rock salt,
Speaker 2: that fancy pink salt. Yeah, it's in that, it's in
Speaker 2: that and it's in sugar too. And part of that
Speaker 2: is because industrial discharge goes into.
Speaker 2: water that then goes into the soil and then the
Speaker 2: fertilizer that grow our produce. And then there's all that
Speaker 2: plastic food packaging from cling wrap to bottled water, which
Speaker 2: is of course one of the worst culprits. A study
Speaker 2: last year estimated that 1 L contains an average of
Speaker 2: 240,000 plastic particles. Yummy. And then there are those Styrofoam
Speaker 2: boxes as well. I mean, it's also been found in
Speaker 2: breast milk, so it's really, really
Speaker 2: Getting into our system in ways we cannot
Speaker 2: imagine.
Speaker 1: And in rice in rice as well. There was a
Speaker 1: report out of Australia about the plastics in rice. So
Speaker 1: shock and horror for us.
Speaker 2: And yes, that's right, from the University of Queensland if
Speaker 2: I recall. It was what, 3 to 4 mg of
Speaker 2: plastic for every 100 g of rice eaten, right? And
Speaker 2: I think the numbers are even worse for instant rice.
Speaker 2: Pro tip, guys.
Speaker 2: Listen up, wash your rice before you cook it, uh,
Speaker 2: which the study says can cut plastics contamination by 20
Speaker 2: to 40%.
Speaker 1: Good idea. So what are these microplastics doing to us
Speaker 1: and our planet? That's the big question, and for now
Speaker 1: we don't really know, although I think we can assume
Speaker 1: that none of this is good. What about the solutions then,
Speaker 1: from a personal consumer point of view,
Speaker 1: We can't avoid eating and drinking, clearly. Basically, as best
Speaker 1: as you can, and this might seem really obvious, keep
Speaker 1: plastic out of the the process. Try not to eat
Speaker 1: out of plastic, heat your food in plastic or store
Speaker 1: it in plastic containers. And then things like our choice
Speaker 1: of clothing even can have an impact. Natural fibers can
Speaker 1: reduce your exposure to microplastics as well.
Speaker 1: And then there's the planet's angle, and there are so
Speaker 1: many things we could discuss here, and we have discussed
Speaker 1: in the past. Things from, from waste disposal to alternative materials,
Speaker 1: reforming the plastic industry worldwide, which countries have been trying
Speaker 1: to do for years now. Less consumption, public awareness, international treaties.
Speaker 1: It's all on the table, I guess, but, but right
Speaker 1: now the progress is slow, and we're creating and throwing
Speaker 1: out more plastic now than ever before in history.
Speaker 1: Alright, it is weather time, Lee Ling, what is on
Speaker 1: our horizon?
Speaker 2: Well, the northeast monsoon season is still upon us, so
Speaker 2: we can expect wet and windy conditions to stick around
Speaker 2: for a bit, but it is tapering off. So around
Speaker 2: these parts here, we expect some thundery showers, but fewer
Speaker 2: full rain days like we've been seeing.
Speaker 2: And that's according to the meteorological Service Singapore. Where you're at, Jack,
Speaker 2: you've been enjoying some cooler weather,
Speaker 1: that's mixed with a little, you know, cocktail of air pollution,
Speaker 1: so that's
Speaker 2: that's been fun.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm sorry to tell you that that coolness may
Speaker 2: be ebbing, appears to be ebbing as temperatures edge up
Speaker 2: with highs around 35 degrees in the coming days. It's
Speaker 2: mild in Hanoi, but rain will persist almost daily in Jakarta.
Speaker 2: So yeah, a mixed bag of uh weather conditions ahead.
Speaker 1: Back to our quiz question. Hope you've had some time
Speaker 1: to put these in order. Repeating the question. Tell me
Speaker 1: which of these had the highest levels of microplastics contained
Speaker 1: within them. We've got apples, carrots, pears, and lettuce.
Speaker 2: OK, so remember earlier we talked about the water, the
Speaker 2: microplastics in the water, microplastics in the soil, and the fertilizer.
Speaker 2: And because of that, I'm gonna go bottom up.
Speaker 2: So the vegetables and fruits that you mentioned that grow
Speaker 2: closer to the ground and carrots, carrots on the ground
Speaker 2: because they're root vegetables and then closer to the surface,
Speaker 2: lettuce which grows just above the soil.
Speaker 2: And then we've got apples and pears, and I'm just,
Speaker 2: you know, taking a wild guess here because I think
Speaker 2: pear trees are taller than apples. So there you go, carrots, lettuce,
Speaker 2: apples and pears.
Speaker 1: OK, well, your your hot streak is over. I have
Speaker 1: to tell you it's it's over. Uh, you got some
Speaker 1: of it it's kind of in the right order. In
Speaker 1: this study, the most contaminated food.
Speaker 1: Uh, were by far fruits, fruits were able to absorb
Speaker 1: much more microplastic material than vegetables. So that meant that apples,
Speaker 1: I think it had something to do with the sugar
Speaker 1: as well. OK, don't ask me too much about the study,
Speaker 1: it was very technical. But apples were the highest, recorded
Speaker 1: the highest levels of contamination ahead of pears. Carrots were
Speaker 1: the worst of the vegetables, so that came in at
Speaker 1: number 3. And then lettuce had, you know, surprisingly, the
Speaker 1: least amount. So.
Speaker 2: Maybe they
Speaker 2: absorb.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's part of it,
Speaker 2: yes. less about proximity than the mechanisms of, yeah, OK.
Speaker 1: Go check out the study. It's there online and you
Speaker 1: can learn about why those fruits and vegetables absorbed plastic
Speaker 1: like they did.
Speaker 1: For now, that's the end of this episode of Climate Conversations.
Speaker 1: As always, we thank you for joining us. Please give
Speaker 1: us some feedback, come and connect with us on social media.
Speaker 1: We're there.
Speaker 2: And I'm Lee Ling Tan. Thank you for listening in.
Speaker 2: And we'll hopefully see you back here next week.
Speaker 1: Hopefully, the plastics won't have consumed you. Yes, we'll be
Speaker 1: here
Speaker 2: next week.
Speaker 1: I'm Jack Board. Thanks as always to the team that
Speaker 1: put together this podcast, Sai Ye Win, Tiffany Ang, Janai Jahari,
Speaker 1: and Christina Roberts.