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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Our life with plastic, a review of plastic product abuse in the age of consumerism
ClearHow plastic is our plastic culture? Reducing our consumption of single-use plastics
This paper examines the cultural and economic forces that have made single-use plastics so embedded in modern life, making them difficult to reduce despite known environmental harms. Understanding the social dimensions of plastic consumption — not just technical solutions — is essential for effectively reducing the microplastic pollution they ultimately generate.
Consumer Awareness of Plastic: an Overview of Different Research Areas
Researchers analyzed consumer awareness of plastic across environmental science, engineering, and materials science literature using bibliometric methods, finding that each discipline frames plastic concerns differently and that a significant gap exists between what researchers prioritize and the plastic-related concerns of everyday consumers.
Next steps for research on society and microplastics
This perspective paper assessed the contributions of social and behavioral sciences to microplastics research, covering policy analysis, public education, and stakeholder engagement. The authors argue for greater integration of social science methods to understand and reduce plastic pollution at the human systems level.
Living in the Plastic Age
This interdisciplinary work examines plastic pollution from societal and environmental perspectives, arguing that ubiquitous plastic waste and its conversion to microplastics has become so pervasive in shaping human-nature relationships that it defines a distinct 'Plastic Age,' and exploring implications for human health and pathways toward systemic change.
Toxicity of plastic consumer products: a biological, chemical and social-ecological analysis
This study analyzed the toxic chemicals found in consumer plastic products, including additives, monomers, and processing by-products that can leach into food or the environment. The findings highlight that plastic toxicity extends beyond microplastic particles themselves — the chemicals embedded in plastics pose significant health risks through food packaging and environmental contamination.
The human dimension: how social and behavioural research methods can help address microplastics in the environment
This paper outlines how social and behavioral science research methods — including surveys, interviews, and behavioral experiments — can be applied to understand human dimensions of the microplastic pollution problem. Addressing plastic pollution requires not just environmental science but also understanding why people produce, use, and dispose of plastics as they do.
Societal Relations to Nature in Times of Crisis—Social Ecology’s Contributions to Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies
This review article examined how social ecology — an interdisciplinary field — approaches the crisis of societal relationships with nature, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. It provides theoretical frameworks relevant to understanding why plastic pollution persists despite growing awareness of its harms.
Role of Plastics in Modern Life: Benefits, Risks and Environmental Consequences
This review examines the dual role of plastics in modern society — their economic benefits alongside environmental and public health risks — and surveys strategies for more sustainable plastic production and disposal.
Next steps for research on society and microplastics
This perspective paper outlined priority directions for social and behavioral science research on microplastics, building on the established contributions of social sciences to understanding policy, stakeholder views, and public behavior around plastic pollution. The authors called for greater integration of social science methods to address governance gaps and support effective microplastic management.
Role of Plastics in Modern Life: Benefits, Risks and Environmental Consequences
This review examines the dual role of plastics in modern society — their economic and practical benefits alongside growing environmental and health concerns — calling for a balanced approach to plastic use and waste management.
On the way to reduce marine microplastics pollution. Research landscape of psychosocial drivers
A review of psychosocial drivers of marine plastic pollution found that factors including consumer convenience preferences, low perceived personal responsibility, and weak norm activation explain why behavioral change around plastic use is slow, and that interventions combining social norms messaging with structural changes show the most promise.
Explicitly and Implicitly Measured Valence and Risk Attitudes Towards Plastic Packaging, Plastic Waste, and Microplastic in a German Sample
This psychology study measured both explicit and implicit attitudes toward plastic packaging and microplastics in German consumers, finding that people simultaneously appreciate the convenience of plastic while expressing concern about pollution. The gap between attitudes and behavior helps explain why plastic consumption continues despite public concern about microplastics.
A community-based cross-sectional study exploring knowledge, attitude, and practice of adults towards the use and hazards of plastic products
A community-based cross-sectional study explored public knowledge, attitudes, and practices around plastic use and health risks, finding gaps in awareness of plastic chemical components despite widespread daily use. The authors recommend targeted public education to promote healthier and more sustainable plastic choices.
Plastic habits – an overview for the collection ‘Plastics and Sustainable Earth’
This overview article examines how human behavior has become deeply intertwined with plastic use over the past 60 years, producing vast amounts of non-biodegradable waste that now pollutes the planet. It introduces a collection of studies exploring behavior change, product design, and sustainable alternatives needed to reduce society's dependence on plastic.
The concept of plasticology
This conceptual paper introduces "plasticology" as a proposed interdisciplinary field that integrates the natural sciences, social sciences, and arts to study the full relationship between humans and synthetic plastics in the environment. The authors argue that microplastic and nanoplastic research must include social dimensions — such as behavior patterns and public awareness — alongside chemistry, ecotoxicology, and environmental science to fully understand and address plastic pollution. They highlight art-science collaboration as a potentially valuable tool for building public awareness and monitoring societal responses to plastic contamination.
A Systematic Review On Consumer Behavior toward Plastic Consumption In Asian Countries
This systematic review summarizes research on consumer attitudes and behaviors toward plastic use across Asian countries. Understanding what drives people to use or avoid plastic products is important for reducing microplastic pollution at its source, since everyday plastic consumption is the upstream cause of the microplastic contamination found in our food, water, and bodies.
Consumer Habits and Practices for Cosmetics: a Statistical Approach
Despite its title referencing cosmetics consumer habits, this paper studies the behavioral and sociological factors driving cosmetic purchasing decisions — not microplastic pollution. It examines survey data on consumer attitudes toward cosmetic products and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.
Why is there plastic packaging in the natural environment? Understanding the roots of our individual plastic waste management behaviours
This review explores why individuals mismanage plastic packaging waste, finding that the disconnect between discarding behavior and its visible consequences is a key factor, as is the deep historical rootedness of waste disposal habits in different cultures. The authors argue that policies to reduce plastic littering face fundamental behavioral constraints that require approaches beyond simple regulation.
Public Awareness Of Plastic Pollution And Perceived Risks To Human Health.
This study aims to assess public awareness of plastic pollution and its health impacts by surveying urban and semi-urban communities about their plastic use habits and self-reported health outcomes. Researchers plan to compare families using plastic food-contact materials with those using non-plastic alternatives to identify gaps in awareness and potential health differences linked to everyday plastic exposure.
Evaluating the Environmental and Health Impacts of Disposable Plastics: Toward Sustainable Material Alternatives
This review synthesized evidence on the environmental and health impacts of disposable plastics, drawing on environmental science, health studies, and sustainability literature. The paper examined how plastic waste drives ocean pollution and wildlife harm while exploring sustainable alternative materials and policies.
Evaluating the Environmental and Health Impacts of Disposable Plastics: Toward Sustainable Material Alternatives
This review examined the environmental and health impacts of disposable plastics and explored sustainable alternatives, drawing on secondary literature across environmental science and health disciplines. The paper assessed plastic waste contributions to ocean pollution and proposed strategies to mitigate these challenges.
Examination of plastic’s hazards to human health underway
This study examined the multiple health hazards that plastics pose to humans across their entire life cycle, from fossil fuel extraction used as feedstocks through everyday use and disposal, conducting a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of exposure pathways and associated health effects.
Framing pollution
This social science analysis explores how "pollution" — and microplastics specifically — is defined not just by science but by political, economic, and cultural forces. The paper examines different ways of framing microplastic pollution: as a waste management failure, a consumer behavior problem, or an inevitable product of industrial capitalism, each with different implications for who bears responsibility. It argues that understanding the social and political dimensions of microplastic pollution is essential for developing just and effective responses.
Multiple Effects, Pathways, and Potential Health Risks from Environmental Microplastic Exposure
This review synthesizes nearly two decades of research on the multiple pathways through which environmental microplastics affect human and ecological health, including chemical toxicity, physical impacts, and potential roles as carriers of pathogens and contaminants.