Big Smile, No Teeth: My baby's drinking microplastics?!

French scientist and member of the 4P Shore & Seas association Edgar Dusacre showing microplastic waste collected on Contis beach on the Aquitaine coast, south-western France. The association collects plastic waste on 260km of beaches on the Aquitaine coast as part of its research into the effects of plastics on humans, animals and nature. — AFP

As a new parent, news headlines have taken on a deeper meaning. When I see things about the increasing rate of climate breakdown or a nationalist wave of right wing parties gaining popularity around the globe, it no longer makes me worry in general, it makes me worry very specifically for my son.

So when a study out of Trinity College Dublin this week reported that babies ingest millions of bits of microplastics, I didn’t just shake my head and move on. I pictured my little baby son drinking out of his milk bottle – his plastic milk bottle.