10: Neuromicroplasticity

(And yes, I made that word up. Unless it does actually exist and I just don't know it... Oh well.)

If you've ever had to store food in the freezer, or perhaps needed a bag to heat up food in, then you've probably owned or used a Ziploc bag at some point in your life. It seems like a perfectly mundane way to store your leftovers -- but the truth is, it could actually lead to dementia and other serious health problems.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in California, accusing Ziploc of misleading consumers about the safety of their plastic bags and containers. Ziploc markets them as microwave and freezer safe, however, the company omits the crucial fact that their products actually release microplastics when used as directed. Not only does this mean that Ziploc has misled millions of customers, but it also means their products fail at their most basic purpose -- storing food safely.

Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments that are released into our food, water, and air as plastic products degrade and break down. They've been linked to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and reproductive problems, and studies show that the average human may already be consuming 39,000 - 52,000 microplastic particles a year. They are already being found in the placentas of pregnant women, which means they are already present in the baby as well -- our children are being polluted before they're even born.

Microplastics are also tiny enough to pass through the blood-brain barrier, and that's where they begin to wreak havoc. We now know that the average human can have as much as a spoon's worth of microplastics in their brain -- and the highest numbers have been found in the brains of those with dementia, Alzheimer's, and other similar neurodegenerative diseases.

S.C. Johnson, the maker of Ziploc, issued a statement denying the allegations: "We believe Ziploc products are safe when used as directed and that these claims are without merit." 

...Well, it's not exactly a surprise. What did we expect, a statement saying "yeah, we actually lied and probably gave your parents dementia, sorry about that"?

Ziploc won't be the only one facing criticism either; with the spotlight being shown on plastic bags and containers, other brands like Rubbermaid are also under fire. There is also growing pressure on the FDA to update its standards for microwave and freezer safe labeling, as the current regulations are outdated and don't adequately address the long-term consequences of plastic exposure.