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• 1 media/Screen Shot 2024-05-01 at 11.21.06 AM.png 2024-05-01T14:38:59+00:00 Who Suffers from Microplastic Pollution? 10 image_header 2024-05-01T17:36:09+00:00 In investigating microplastic pollution and water quality, a report found that race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access. Black and Latinx households are twice as likely to lack indoor plumbing and Native American households are 19-times as likely. Household income, education level, and unemployment rates are also predictors. Two million Americans live without running water and basic indoor plumbing, and many more without sanitation. Rural communities are also at risk, with 17% report having issues with safe drinking water. In some states, the number of people without access to indoor plumbing is increasing.
  
  Further Research studied the impact microplastics had in local community tap water in cities labeled Cities “A,” “B,” and “C.” After explaining the situations that allow microplastics to be able to infiltrate the water supplies, he states his focus is on “looking at the presence of microplastics in local communities of different demographics and socioeconomic statuses.” Not surprisingly, it was observed how the city with “the largest population, higher percentage of minorities, and worse off socioeconomic status, had the highest particle count.” This once again shows the pattern that slow violence takes, in that those who are the most vulnerable often suffer the most, especially in urban areas. 
  
  "Triple Planetary Crisis"-UN
  
  “In general, vulnerable populations are at even greater risk of the negative health impacts from the production, use and degradation of plastics,” says Johnson. She cited a 2021 United Nations report on global plastics pollution that detailed Indigenous communities’ displacement for oil extraction, contamination of water supplies in low-income communities, health problems among predominantly Black communities living near oil refineries in the South, among other dangers faced by at-risk communities. Black people are also 75% more likely to live near toxic facilities. 
  
  “Residents of “fenceline” communities adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.”