Plastic was originally made to save elephants and turtles.

That statement may sound surprising because today plastic jeopardizes turtles' and elephants' livelihoods. However, in the 1860s, billiard balls, piano keys, and combs became extremely popular. These objects were made with ivory (tusks of elephants), and turtle shells. As a result, the population of elephants and turtles began to decimate. So, in 1869, a New York firm offered $10,000 for anyone who could find an alternative material. John Wesley Hyatt created an alternative known as celluloid.

Alexander Parks invented the first man-made plastic in 1850 called Parkesine. Parkes showcased it at the Great International Exhibition in London in 1862. However, it wasn’t until Hyatt that plastic became more commercially produced. The invention was revolutionary as it was the first time humans could create materials that were directly from nature. Beforehand, materials used were restricted to substances found and processed. In 1907, Leonardo Baekeland invented another plastic called Bakelite. This was the first fully synthetic plastic.

The successes of Hyatt and Baekeland encouraged other companies to invest in researching and developing new polymers. Consequently, plastics such as Nylon, Plexiglas, Teflon, and Catalin were invented in the following years. Yet, it was only during World War II that plastic became more popular and widely used. Plastic could be used to make parachutes, ropes, body armor, helmet liners, and plexiglass for vehicles and aircraft windows.  The war demonstrated the adaptability of plastic as it had numerous possible usages. Plastic production increased 300% in the United States during the war.

The surge in production only continued to increase after the war. Plastic brought a utopian feeling to society. It produced numerous possibilities for society along with wealth. Plastic began to be used for not just the war but also for the household. Tupperware was introduced to the public in 1946 by Earl Tupper. Nylon was invented in 1935 and served as a synthetic silk, which began to be adopted in the manufacturing of clothes.

However, in the 1960s, a distaste for plastic began to grow. The material was associated with the idea of cheap, fragile, and artificial. This was only furthered when plastic debris was found in the oceans for the first time. For background, in the 1960s, there was an increase in awareness of environmental problems. This came with the release of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962, which is also credited for pioneering the modern environmental movement. The concern about waste caused plastic’s reputation to drop further in the 70s and 80s.

Plastic industries began to propose the option of recycling to gain back public opinion. So, in the 1980s, they organized a drive to collect and process recyclable materials. However, recycling is far from perfect as most plastics end up in landfills or the environment. Plastic continued to appear in oceans, forests, and other natural habitats. This harms aquatic and land animals alike. Most notably, turtles will confuse plastic bags for jellyfish and when feeding will suffocate on the plastic.

Yet plastic is not only harmful to animals but to humans as well. The additives and chemicals used to manufacture plastic make their way into our food, water, therefore and bodies. High doses of these chemicals can result in the disruption of the endocrine (hormonal) system. Most of the plastic in our bodies appears as microplastic. It has been found in all parts of the human lung, maternal and fetal placental tissues, breast milk, and human blood. Humans breathe in and swallow microplastic. This is due to plastic being in almost every product we use, for example, it is in shampoo, toothpaste, and shower gels. This is only made worse when we wash it out and it ends up in the sewage system as it will eventually end up watering plants. Through watering, microplastic also ends up in our food.

The full impact of microplastic on the human body is not known for sure. Past studies on the effect of plastic ingestion done on rats suggest that microplastics can potentially disrupt the gut microbiome, cause inflammation, lower sperm quality and testosterone levels, and affect the memory and learning parts of the brain negatively. It is assumed that microplastics could have similar effects on the human body. However, it will be a few years before we know for sure as research on humans has only just begun.

A replacement for plastic needs to be found because of its consequences on human and animal health, and the environment. Plastic has become critical to modern life. It is necessary for the development of computers, cell phones, and lifesaving medicines. On average, Americans use over 4 million plastic bottles every hour which shows the dependency on plastic. Furthermore, plastic takes 450 years to decompose. Every piece of plastic ever produced, and not recycled, still exists. This means that even if we were to stop the production of plastic today, there would still be ongoing aftermaths. Modern scientists are constantly trying to improve the recipe, but the solution will rely more on political and social change than technological change. If everyone made a conscious effort to avoid consuming plastic, when possible, it would already make a big difference for the earth.

Now that you know a bit more about the history of plastic and its effects on the environment, challenge yourself to reduce your plastic consumption by favoring products with less plastic packaging, buying tea leaves instead of tea bags, or using reusable grocery bags. And if you want to further learn more about plastic, I added my sources at the bottom. Some of them include cool and brief videos and timelines about the history of plastic.

Bibliography

• A brief history of plastic (video). (n.d.). Retrieved from TedEd: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-plastic
• Bellis, M. (2020, January 28). The History of Plastics from Photographic Film to Polyester Suits. Retrieved from ThoughtCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-plastics-1992322
• Conger, C. (n.d.). How Tupperware Works. Retrieved from howstuffworks: https://people.howstuffworks.com/tupperware2.htm
• History and Future of Plastics. (n.d.). Retrieved from Science History Institute: https://sciencehistory.org/education/classroom-activities/role-playing-games/case-of-plastics/history-and-future-of-plastics/
• Peterson, J. L. (2020, September 8). Darkening Day: Air Pollution Films and Environmental Awareness, 1960-1972. Retrieved from Medicine on Screen: https://medicineonscreen.nlm.nih.gov/2020/09/08/darkening-day-air-pollution-films-and-environmental-awareness-1960-1972/
• Pinto-Rodrigues, A. (2023, March 24). Microplastics are in our bodies. Here's why we don't know the health risks. Retrieved from ScienceNews: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/microplastics-human-bodies-health-risks
• Plastics: Innovations and impacts - Timeline. (2023, January 10). Retrieved from Science Learning Hub: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/interactive_timeline/14-plastics-innovations-and-impacts-timeline
• The Age of Plastic: From Parkesine to Pollution. (2019, October 11). Retrieved from Science Musem: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/chemistry/age-plastic-parkesine-pollution
• This is how long everyday plastic items last in the ocean. (2018, November 2). Retrieved from World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/chart-of-the-day-this-is-how-long-everyday-plastic-items-last-in-the-ocean/