In America alone, over 380 billion plastic bags are consumed annually, of which only a mere 5.2% are recycled. What does this mean? Reduce their use and recycle! Because what you throw away, you'll also eat! Most of us have learned to carry groceries home in plastic bags from time to time. However, few people realize that it's necessary to be very careful about their disposal. Once these materials get into water, for example, they unleash absolute havoc (not only) at the bottom of streams, seas, and oceans. This warning applies especially now in summer when we travel to seas and oceans for vacation. Marine life is very sensitive to plastic bags, and eventually the bag works its way into the flesh of the fish we eat. What's more, since bags float in the water along with the currents, they become deadly toys for fish. 
Toxic substances all around us A very wide range of different chemicals enter the oceans as a result of human activity. According to available data, approximately 100,000 different chemicals are used in the chemical industry worldwide today. The 3,000 most common substances cover 90 percent of total production in terms of volume. Up to 1,000 new synthetic chemicals enter the market every year. 
Chemistry here, chemistry there Of all these chemicals, 4,500 belong to the most dangerous category in terms of environmental impact. These are so-called Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which are resistant to decomposition, persist in the environment, and can accumulate in the tissues of living organisms (for example, all marine life). They can disrupt the hormonal systems of living organisms and contribute to reproductive problems, trigger carcinogenic processes, suppress immunity, and cause developmental defects. POPs are transported over long distances (e.g., through the atmosphere) and often accumulate in cold regions. This phenomenon, for example, causes the Inuit (Eskimos), who live in the Arctic far from pollution sources, to be among the most contaminated people on Earth. They are dependent on fatty marine food sources such as fish and seals, which contain high concentrations of POPs. The category of POPs includes, for example, highly toxic dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), as well as various pesticides such as DDT and dieldrin. There are also indications that these chemicals disrupt reproduction in some polar bear populations. Conversely, in the Sargasso Sea, which is definitely not near any coast, 3,500 plastic pieces per square kilometer were found in 1999. The increase of plastic waste in the sea and on the coast is not in percentages, but in hundreds of percent annually. 
How about having some plastic bag? It's terrifying, but even seafood products consumed by people in temperate zones contain POPs. These substances accumulate in the tissues of fatty fish and subsequently enter the bodies of consumers. In some countries, fish feed is used not only to feed fish and shellfish in aquaculture, but also cattle, poultry, and pigs, so meat and dairy products, as well as farmed and wild fish, can be additional sources of these chemicals. In June 2011, a turtle was registered in eastern Australia that had more than 300 pieces of plastic in its digestive system. People found the body of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) on a beach in the north of New South Wales. Although this is a shocking example, it is not at all unlikely that there are thousands of similar cases causing premature death of these rare animals. So next time you return from shopping with a bag in hand, imagine what you would do with 2kg of plastic bags in your stomach. ed