人类禁止将塑料袋(为病原病毒、抗生素耐药细菌和其他有害微生物提供了理想的生存表面)

人类禁止将塑料袋用于食品的一个关键主题围绕着塑料垃圾所隐藏的微生物危害。正如2024年10月关于“塑圈”中有害微生物繁殖的评论所强调的——“塑圈”指的是在塑料表面形成的微生物群落——越来越多的人担忧塑料垃圾不仅是环境污染物，还是公共健康威胁。

塑料为病原病毒、抗生素耐药细菌和其他有害微生物提供了理想的生存表面。当塑料暴露在环境中，特别是在降解成微塑料的条件下，它们会吸引并滋生危险的病原体。这些微生物可以在生态系统中持续存在并传播，可能会污染食品和水源。因此，这引发了一个关键问题：塑料的使用，特别是在与食品直接接触时，可能会带来健康风险。

因此，禁止塑料袋用于食品可以被视为一种预防措施，以减少食品被病原微生物污染的风险。随着我们对塑料污染所带来的风险认识的加深，塑料的生物危害性质变得越来越明显，这进一步强调了转向更安全、更可持续替代品的紧迫性，以保护人类健康和环境。

A key theme for why humans ban the use of plastic bags for food centers around the hidden microbial hazards that plastic waste harbors. As highlighted by the October 2024 commentary on harmful microbes thriving in the "plastisphere"—the microbial communities forming on plastic surfaces—there is growing concern that plastic waste is not just an environmental pollutant but also a public health threat. 

 

Plastic provides an ideal surface for pathogenic viruses, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and other harmful microorganisms to thrive. When plastics are exposed to the environment, especially in conditions where they degrade into microplastics, they can attract and harbor dangerous pathogens. These microbes can persist and spread in ecosystems, potentially contaminating food and water supplies. This raises a critical issue: the health risk associated with plastic use, particularly in direct contact with consumables like food.

 

Banning plastic bags for food, therefore, can be seen as a preventive measure to minimize the risk of food contamination by pathogenic microbes. As our understanding of the risks posed by plastic pollution deepens, the biohazardous nature of plastics becomes more apparent, reinforcing the urgency to shift towards safer, more sustainable alternatives to protect human health and the environment.

 

H/t: What harmful microbes are lurking in the world’s 7 billion tonnes of plastic waste?

A fisher in Bangkalan, Indonesia, docks at a beach strewn with plastic waste. Credit: Suryanto Suryanto/Anadolu/Getty

• What harmful microbes are lurking in the world’s 7 billion tonnes of plastic waste?

  Pathogenic viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive on plastic. The biohazard risks of this ‘plastisphere’ shouldn’t be overlooked in efforts to tackle the pollution crisis.

  • By 
  • Changchao Li, 
  • Jian Liu, 
  • Matthias C. Rillig, 
  • Michael S. Bank, 
  • Peter Fantke, 
  • Dong Zhu, 
  • Yong-Guan Zhu & 
  • Ling N. Jin

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  In June, more than 2,000 volunteers participated in the 2024 Global Ocean Cleanup campaign and netted nearly 40 tonnes of plastic debris from just some 80 kilometres of ocean and coasts across the world, including sites from Vietnam to California. Although representing one week’s hard work for the volunteers, such initiatives are a drop in the ocean of plastic waste that is generated each year — about 400 million tonnes, equivalent to the weight of all adult humans currently on Earth.