Plastic production corporations are making the population sick

Dear Editor,

I see plastic pollution all over Virginia. Over 10,000 chemicals are used in plastic production, many of which are known to be harmful to human health, and some of which don’t even have data on their safety. Though clean-up efforts have been successful in removing larger plastics, these chemicals continue to leach into the waterways of Virginia from microplastics that break off and stay in the ecosystem. The production of plastic itself is also incredibly harmful, releasing carcinogens into the air around factories. Taxpayers are currently entirely responsible for financially supporting clean-up efforts, and we should not be required to pay to prevent corporations from making us sick. Requiring plastics producers to reduce the amount of plastic they produce, as well as requiring them to pay for cleaning up their own waste would go a long way to protecting everyone’s health. Virginia needs to act now to protect our communities and wildlife from plastic pollution.

Arden Badhwar

Fairfax