Plastic rocks on an isolated island
The sombre message of stones made of plastic found on an uninhabited island far from the Brazilian coast.
A POISON LIKE NO OTHER
The first book to fully explore – with humor – the microplastics threat
3 February 2023
Investigative journalist Matt Simon makes no bones about it. The title of his new book is crystal clear: A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies. Whereas we at the Plastic Soup Foundation are cautious about using the word ‘poison’ when talking about plastics, Simon states unequivocally that with microplastics – more than any other poison – we have poisoned our planet and ourselves. It’s to the former that he dedicates his book:
To Planet Earth:
Sorry about the mess.
The back cover says, “Simon enjoys long walks on the beach and trying not to think about all the microplastics there.” From personal experience, I know how difficult that is. Once the problem of microplastics – even though they may be tiny or even invisible – is on your mind, you see it everywhere, and it’s impossible to close your eyes to it. So, should you prefer blissful ignorance, be warned and don’t read this book.
To everyone else, I would heartily recommend it! Simon has not only done a lot of research and, according to publisher Island Press, written the first complete book on microplastics with this, but he does so with clarity and humor.
For example, he quotes researcher Steve Allen of the Ocean Frontier Institute: “If you’ve got an IQ above room temperature, you have to understand that this is not a good material to have in the environment.” And Simon himself notes: “To say that WWII hooked the world on plastic like it was an opioid would be an insult to opioids. You can treat a person addicted to a drug, but you can’t get plastic out of humanity’s system – ever.”
Ocean Cleanup
Simon begins his book with the disturbing picture of microplastics falling from the sky like some modern acid rain, tumbling through the environment, attaching pollutants, bacteria and viruses along the way, affecting the quality of our fields and invading our bodies. He then zooms in on the effects of microplastics on the seas, farmlands and human health, as well as possible solutions.
In the latter chapter, he talks specifically about Boyan Slat’s Ocean Cleanup. There he charges mercilessly: “Spending tens of millions of dollars on giant oceanic plastic catchers is like trying to drain a tub with the faucet still on, or mopping a floor with floodwater pouring in, or raking leaves at the start of autumn – without stopping the torrential flow of plastics into the environment, we don’t stand a chance of fixing the problem. Get far enough upstream, though, and you might actually hold companies responsible for this planetary vandalism.”
What does indeed deserve applause are developments like this one in the Netherlands last week. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced that more research needs to be done on the harmfulness of microplastics. The RIVM wants more focus “on how changing our behavior and innovation can ensure that fewer microplastics end up in the environment.” This is something Plastic Soup Foundation has been advocating for years. Fortunately, the government’s eyes are slowly opening too.
Plastic never comes alone
Simon: “The world has never seen a pollutant quite like this. Heavy metals like lead and mercury are but elements, and nasties like DDT are compounds – science knows full well how these pollutants harm life. But the many kinds of plastic polymers contain at least 10,000 different chemicals, a quarter of which scientists consider to be of concern.”
Simon also mentions the role plastic plays in global warming. Indeed, if you were to think of the plastics industry as a country, it would rank as the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world (after China, the US, India and Russia). And that does not even consider the emission of greenhouse gasses from all the plastic waste slowly disintegrating in the environment.
And the recycling myth that the plastics industry is so keen to keep alive is quickly debunked by Simon. After mentioning that at least 42 new plastic factories were added between 2019 and 2021, he concludes: “If large-scale recycling actually worked, the industry would stop building plastics facilities, not build more of them.”
Familiar names from the Plastic Health Summits
Simon spoke to Plastic Soup Foundation and other NGOs, and numerous scientists woldwide. Many of them are our acquaintances, for example because they have been on the stage of our previous two Plastic Health Summits or because we invited them to the upcoming edition in Brussels on 11 May 2023.
Curious about their latest discoveries? Then sign up for the Plastic Health Summit 2023 here.
Elles Tukker
Plastic Soup Foundation
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