Directed by Louie Psihoyos (You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment) and Josh Murphy, The Plastic Detox is structured around environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Shanna H. Swan, who has been studying the correlation between microplastics and infertility for over thirty years. For the documentary, she conducts an “experiment” (which, she clarifies, cannot legally be classified as a scientific study), in which she helps six couples who are struggling to conceive to cut out as much plastic from their lives as possible. As these couples quickly realize, that’s no easy task—plastic is in nearly everything, including things you wouldn’t expect, like paper products and aluminum cans.
Photo: Courtesy of Netflix
While there are a lot of scary studies and statistic shown in the documentary that outline just how bad for us the largely unregulated chemicals used in common plastic can be, the documentary also outlines some actions people can take to cut down on microplastics exposure. And some of those actions are as simple as saying “no” when the cashier asks you if you want a receipt.
According to the documentary, two of the key chemicals, often used it plastic, that you want to avoid are phalates and bisphenols. Phalates are often used to make plastics softer, and more flexibles, while bisphenols are often used to make plastic hard and structured. The reason you want to avoid these two chemicals in particular is because they can disrupt our normal hormones, which can lead to things like heart attacks, strokes, infertility, birth defects, breast cancer, and many more health issues.
You probably know by now to stop drinking out of plastic water bottles and using plastic cutting boards. But here are five more steps outlined by the documentary that you can take to reduce your exposure to these chemicals.
