How much plastic are you eating?

How much plastic are you eating?
Plastic production surged in the last 50 years, and we could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a week.

Over a lifetime, we could consume about 20kg (44lb) of microplastic. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
 

What’s for dinner? Lego sushi, credit card burgers, or a well-done piece of PVC pipe?

These examples may sound extreme but can easily represent over time the cumulative amount of microscopic pieces of plastic people consume every day.

People could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a week, a 2019 study by WWF International concluded, mainly in plastic-infused drinking water but also via food like shellfish, which tends to be eaten whole so the plastic in their digestive systems is also consumed.

Using the findings, Reuters news agency reported we ingest the weight of a 4×2 Lego brick in plastic in a month. In a year, that amounts to the plastic in a firefighter’s helmet.

At this rate of consumption, in a decade, we could be eating 2.5kg (5.5 lb) in plastic, the equivalent of over two sizeable pieces of plastic pipe.

And over a lifetime, we consume about 20kg (44 lb) of microplastic.

Pieces of plastic straws weighing 0.7g, the equivalent of the amount of plastic that someone could eat in one day. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Plastic buttons weighing 5g, equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in one week. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Plastic cards weighing 7g, equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in 10 days. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Lego bricks weighing a total of 22g, which the equivalent of the amount of plastic that someone could eat in one month. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Plastic caps weighing 62g, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in three months. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Plastic toy beads weighing 125g, equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in six months. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

A face shield and a pair of plastic goggles used to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, weighing 151g, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in eight months. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

A plastic safety helmet weighing 248g, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in one year. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Plastic ropes and plastic pipes weighing 510g, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in two years. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

A plastic pipe weighing 1kg, the equivalent of the amount of plastic that someone could eat in four years. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Various plastic goods weighing 1.3kg, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in five years. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Various plastic goods weighing 3.15kg, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in 10 years. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Various plastic goods weighing 6.8kg, which is the equivalent to the amount that someone could eat in 27 years. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]