Microplasty is everywhere. Here is the reason why this is important for large oil

Microplastics are increasingly found in our body and in our food supply.

They are defined as plastic pieces that are less than 5 millimeters – about the size of a pencil rubber. But you can also be much smaller, such as the size of a virus particle or a DNA strand.

Petrochemicals, the building blocks of plastic, are made from oil and gas. The company is a small but profitable area of ​​the fossil fuel industry, and every use on the use of plastics is regarded as a threat to the oil and gas industry.

“When the industry is most vulnerable, human exposure to microplastics is,” said Richard Wiles, President of the Center for Climate Council. “You have to try to tell us that exposure to microplastics is in order every day from birth to death. It’s just great. You should just eat more of it. It is not a problem. And I just don’t think you can win this argument.”

The scientific research of microplastics has been assigned in recent years. The PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine reported that the level of the published scientific research in connection with the search term “microplastics” almost doubled from 2021 to 2024.

A study published in Nature Medicine in February showed that human brains from 2024 had an average of around 7 grams of plastic, which was examined about 50% more plastic than from 2016. Scientists who were involved in the study announced that these samples come from the frontal cortal, which could indicate ongoing examinations that the highest microplastic levels could contain the highest levels of the microplastic level.

“When people believe that there are wax dogs who measure and understand this type of nanoplasty when they come in, when they come in, our food, our water, our air, I have not seen any evidence that this is done on a meaningful scale,” said Andrew West, researcher at Duke University and one of the study.

Microplastics were also found by scientists in the muscle tissue of fish and even in the fibers of fruit and vegetables.

“Thanks to the progress in monitoring the technology, we can now recognize incredibly tiny amounts of substances such as microplastics,” said Kimberly Wise White, Vice President for Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at the American Chemistry Council, a trade association of the plastic industry. “But to find something at an extremely low level does not mean that it is harmful. Plastics offer demonstrable advantages in terms of health care, food safety, transport and technology – advantages that we cannot afford to lose.”

Industry giants invest a lot in chemical production, since oil demand from electrification, the US tariffs and the slowdown of economic growth in China and India decreases. The international energy agency said that the introduction of electric vehicles, for example, displaced more than 1 million barrels of oil consumption per day in 2024 and that this will increase to 5 million barrels by 2030.

In his outlook from 2024, Bp Said that the declining use of oil in transport was compensated for by oil consumption for petrochemical production. While chemical uses include a variety of products such as detergents and colors, polyethylene plastics are an essential part of the chemical business.

“Large oil and gas companies play a key role in the supply chain for plastics. And then there are many other companies [on] The side downstream, which is involved in the creation of the plastics “. “The surplus of natural gas comes about because of fracking and has led to low natural gas prices. “

According to the University of Wisconsin Madison, around 1.5% of natural gas are converted into chemicals in the USA, which are used to produce plastics and other consumer gas.

Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world, has also strengthened its activity in the room. In 2020 it bought 70% of the Petrochemicals Company Sabic. While the results of the fourth quarter of 2024 were lower than expected, Sabic earned almost $ 35 billion from petrochemicals last year.

“We are undoubtedly a society, better plastic than no plastics, but we are faced with the consequences of these plastics,” said Gillingham.

Take a look at the video to learn more about how microplastics have become an important problem for Big Oil.