We all have plastic bags in our homes which in it has other plastic bags too, isn’t’ it?

This is a statement that is both funny and frightening. Keep in mind that these are the reusable plastics, that we decided to keep. So, can you imagine how much plastics have we thrown out there?

The excessive exposure of the plastics around us has adversely affected our health, more than ever in the recent years.

Let’s have a detailed analysis of the same.

Polythene or more commonly known as plastic was one of the most revolutionary inventions of all time. Being durable, lightweight, and inexpensive, plastics became the material for almost every domain, within an extremely short duration. In exchange for all these comforts, this non-biodegradable started claiming health and wellness of human, wildlife, and environment altogether.

The air that we breathe, the land that we live on and grow food, the water we drink, everything contains plastics. Sadly even our food chain is no longer devoid of the plastic traces in it. As a result, the overall health has begun to decade gradually. Directly or indirectly, it contributes towards health disorders and complications, but not limited to the metabolism, cardiovascular, respiratory and several forms of cancer.

According to leading gynaecologists, the rising statistics of couples unable to conceive naturally or suffering multiple miscarriages is often due to exposure to harmful elements released by plastics. Many chromosomal and congenital abnormality also arise either from the current or the successive generation. Moreover, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity, and resistance to chemotherapy have also been found prevalent in both men and women.

Many people do not realize the same as often the source remains discrete from plain sight. For instance, the traces of plastic can be also found in food and water, which is packed or stored in plastic containers. Moreover, the contamination of animal’s food (eg, goat, poultry, cow etc.) with plastic components also act as an entry for it in our food chains.

Sadly, solving this problem is quite challenging. The best way to start is by taking proper measure and seeking guidance from best hospitals, in case any health discomfort arises and persists.

The theme for this World Environment Day, 5th June 2018, is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Since it is being hosted in India, let’s pledge to accomplish (4‘R’s) – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and most importantly Replace. Stay away from plastic materials, and whenever possible, go for the substitutes.

Let’s try our best to save our planet!