Media's role in shaping perceptions about plastic pollution: why challenging popular myths matter

Does the prediction that there could be “more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050” concern you? How about reports that “we eat a credit card’s worth of plastic per week”? These are some of the “facts” about plastic that are cited by the media.

They are certainly compelling sound bites and help to focus public and policy attention on the pressing topic of plastic pollution, but their scientific basis is far from robust.

The scientists whose findings were used to support the “more plastic than fish” claim refuted this. But one scientist who worked on the original source the estimation is based on has now updated his figures. The claim is further undermined by the assumptions the calculation is based on and an underestimate of fish stocks.

Research has also found that humans ingest less than a grain of salt of microplastics each week. This means that it would take around 4,700 years to ingest an amount of plastic equivalent to the weight of a credit card.

Over the past three years I’ve been interviewing households in the UK, Spain and Germany about plastics as part of a project focused on improving the recycling of plastic packaging. I’ve been struck by the level of confusion people have about the sources of and risks associated with plastic pollution.

So, in collaboration with the Hereon Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry and communications experts, I have launched an online resource called “Plastic Mythbusters” that aims to debunk popular plastic myths that regularly feature in media.