The price of convenience: the hidden toxins in everyday plastics

Plastic pollution is popular in the media these days. We’ve probably all seen pictures of the great garbage patch, or the plastic-laden stomach contents of a dead whale or albatross who unfortunately didn’t realise it wasn’t food. But what if that was us lying dead on a beach, having consumed too much plastic, without even realising it? The truth is we do consume too much plastic, and I don’t just mean at the checkout. Plastic is not only polluting our oceans, it is polluting our bodies, so we all need to become more aware of the toxic plastic we’re exposed to every day and how we can avoid it.

The toxic plastics we are exposed to (and might not even know it!)

After some recent health issues I was sent to get some very comprehensive (and expensive) medical tests. And when the results came back I discovered I had elevated levels of styrene in my body. I was like “What?? How the hell is that possible???”. My body is a temple: I’ve lived chemical-free most of my life and I’ve eaten organic food for the last 20 years. It made me feel violated — to have some random poison end up in my body with no idea as to how it got there. So I started thinking about the possible source, and I noticed that many of the fresh vegetables we buy come (from farmer to retailer) in…