Microplastics are a growing ecological and human health crisis: Scientist have found the tiny plastic particles everywhere they’ve looked for them, including human placentas and brains. In a new documentary, Plastic People, filmmakers Rick Smith and Peter Raymont delve into the plastic pollution that contaminates people from before birth and can bring about early death. Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough spoke with Smith and Raymont about making the film and solutions to the growing crisis.

The film follows journalist Ziya Tong as she learns the latest science on microplastics and examines the microplastic pollution in her own body.

“The question isn’t, ‘do we have microplastics in us?’” Smith told Kimbrough. “The question is, ‘how much?’ And the question isn’t where in the human body microplastics exist. The question is, ‘where doesn’t it exist?’ We haven’t actually found a human organ without measurable microplastic levels yet.”

Microplastic exposure has been linked to myriad health problems, including organ dysfunction, obesity, cognitive impairment, fertility issues, endocrine disruption, and serious diseases including cancer.

The world currently produces roughly 400 million metric tons of plastic annually, expected to triple in the next 15 years under the current trajectory.

The international community has already met five times to tackle the growing plastic problem, and will meet again in August 2025 to develop a legally binding instrument to tackle the crisis. With the recent U.S. shift toward fossil fuels, a meaningful movement on plastic seems more challenging than ever, but Smith said it doesn’t have to be.

“The solution here is not rocket science,” Smith told Mongabay. “We know what we need to do. We need to eliminate the unnecessary use of plastic, and we need to ban the most toxic formulations of plastic.”

Smith said the average coffee cup lid can be made of rigid polypropylene or polystyrene. Research suggests polystyrene is more carcinogenic and “to your average consumer, they’re indistinguishable,” he said. “So why on Earth wouldn’t we move immediately to ban the most carcinogenic types of plastic?”

Many countries are already addressing the issue. “Rwanda and the Philippines have made incredible progress in cleaning up plastic pollution and protecting their populations. Little, tiny, rural municipalities, major cities all over the world [are] making big progress,” Smith said.

The filmmakers told Kimbrough that one of their goals with the movie is to shift the conversation on plastic from just talking about it as an environmental problem to recognizing that plastic is also a serious threat to human health.

“I bet you that we’re going to see an increasing number of Americans and people around the world paying attention to this, because, all of a sudden, it’s affecting their lives in the here and now — their chances of succumbing to cancer, dementia, hurting their kids,” Smith said.

Read the full interview by Liz Kimbrough here.

Banner image from the documentary Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics, courtesy of White Pine Pictures.