Plastic source of toxic chemicals in food chain

Plastic source of toxic chemicals in food chain

Is your family’s health important to you? In April, South Hadley voters will be asked if they favor banning certain types of plastic bags, instead allowing only reusable, compostable or biodegradable bags at some retailers.

You will hear many long-winded arguments pro and con. My answer is based on a few facts affecting my family’s health that override them all. In some regions of the Pacific Ocean, there is now six times as much plankton-sized plastic as there is plankton. Many animals eat plankton.

Toxic chemicals become more concentrated up the food chain as animals eat other contaminated animals. Humans are at the top. Toxic chemicals in plastics are now found in human breast milk. These chemicals can potentially cause cancer in humans. Cancer is an epidemic in humans. Do you know anyone with cancer?

I’m no expert on the chemistry of plastic bags, but I know how I’m voting on the plastic bag ban. This is a small aspect of a larger public health issue.

It is a shame that people may be inconvenienced, and local businesses may suffer from the plastic bag ban. But if neither the plastics manufacturers, nor the state and federal government won’t protect our safety, then we need to take matters into our own hands.

Keith H. Davis

South Hadley