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Plastic Free July is a global movement born in 2011 to address the negative effects of plastic pollution. Today, we know much more about the devastating effects of plastic and we continue to look for ways to reduce and mitigate them. Plastic was developed in 1907 and has been used extensively in manufacturing—it's inexpensive, durable, flexible, lightweight, non-flammable and non-conductive. But, by the 1970s it was understood to be a potent human carcinogen after several workers died from a cancer linked to a gas created in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing. A 2025 study quantified the lethal dosages for marine animals in the ecosystem most inundated by plastic—just three sugar cubes' worth of plastic has a 90% likelihood of killing a seabird and two baseballs' worth has the same odds of ending the life of a Loggerhead sea turtle.
Plastic is omnipresent—it's estimated that worldwide each person is responsible for the production of 110 pounds of plastic every year. In developed economies, about a third of plastic is used in packaging. Other plastic intense products include automobiles (up to 20% plastic), furniture and toys.
As plastic degrades it is never truly removed from the environment, it transforms into microplastics—defined to be from about the size of a pencil eraser to microscopic. Microplastics are also produced, including as microbeads and synthetic fibers. They've infiltrated the human body and virtually every species that has been tested. Exposure can come in surprising ways like using tea bags and touching printed receipts. Microplastics enter the water supply from surface runoff, wastewater effluent, industrial discharge, bottled water packaging and atmospheric deposition. There is evidence that humans and other animals exposed to microplastics are more vulnerable to infections and increased inflammation, immune dysfunction, and cell damage. Further studies will result in a greater understanding of the health risks.
The EPA has not established a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for microplastics; however, knowledge gaps exist in the effects of long-term exposure to microplastics and the smaller nanoplastics. Steps toward regulating them in drinking water have gained momentum with the EPA including microplastics as a contaminant requiring more research and evaluation. In 2025, the Microplastics Safety Act directed the FDA to study human health impacts of microplastics in food and water, with recommendations for mitigation. The Plastic Health Research Act also seeks to advance research on plastic-related health effects.
Targeting the source, this year California enacted a broadened ban on plastic bags, and since 2022 all food providing businesses are prohibited from giving out single-use food ware (e.g. utensils, straws, and condiment packages) unless requested by the consumer.
Conventional water treatment processes, including filtration and sedimentation reduce plastic particle loads. Optimized wastewater and drinking water treatment can remove most microplastics. As Ventura Water advances to recover, treat and reuse its wastewater under the VenturaWaterPure program, compounds with potential human health impacts including microplastics, are addressed. Key components of the VenturaWaterPure treatment process—reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration—will remove a broad spectrum of constituents including microplastics.
People can limit their exposure to microplastics by avoiding purchasing and using plastic-containing products. Recycling when available will reduce the amount, and disposing of plastic products properly will better contain microplastics in our environment. For now, microplastics are an emerging contaminant of drinking water, a label that identifies the need for more research and subsequent regulation development including establishing consistent definitions, detection and monitoring methods, and risk thresholds. In other words, addressing the problem on a broader scale will require action from industry leaders and policy makers.
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