Evaluation of Microplastics Environmental Impact from Straws in the US over Time: Scenario Based Semi Quantitative Scaling Emission Approximation Versus Bioresin Alternatives to Polypropylene

Microplastics pollution has been analyzed and researched extensively in the past 20 years as a pollutant that must be controlled. Among many other plastic products, the disposable drinking straw market projection is increasing; thus, it must remain a focus of environmental scientists. Due to their small size and lack of regulations, straws generally end up in landfills or oceans, where they degrade into micro- (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which can cause serious health risks such as cancer and endocrine disruption. Polypropylene (PP) drinking straws annually contribute to about 109,500 tons of plastic waste in the US; if left untouched, this can generate, by a rough approximation, over 5.5 megatons of MPs over the next 50 years. Literature data were compiled for an MP bioaccumulation model to estimate human body exposure over intervals of one day, one year, and ten years for US straw consumers, comparing PP with polylactide (PLA), cellulose diacetate (CDA), and novel biopolymer-aragonite composite (BioCalTM) straws. Replacing PP straws with these materials can lead to the elimination of up to 109,500 tons of plastic waste annually in the US, reducing both environmental plastic pollution and MP-related health impacts over the next 50 years, thereby eliminating up to about 5.5 megatons of MP and NP formation in the environment. Finally, the industrial biodegradation of the BioCalTM composite was evaluated.