"Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events" (R. Marfella, F. Prattichizzo - 2024); "Early prenatal exposure to suspected endocrine disruptor mixtures is associated with lower IQ at age seven"(Eva M. Tannera, Maria Unenge Hallerbäck – 2019); "Inhaled Nanoparticles Accumulate at Sites of Vascular Disease" (Mark R. Miller, Jennifer B. Raftis - 2017); "First Evidence of Microplastics in Human Urine, a Preliminary Study of Intake in the Human Body" (Concetta Pironti, Valentina Notarstefano – 2022); "Nano/micro-plastic, an invisible threat getting into the brain" (Ajeet Kaushik, Avtar Singh – 2024), etc., need I go on into the listing of all the existing medical studies, by far, concerned about the connection between human health and multiplication of plastics in almost all the aspects of our life. However, let's focus on a tiny bit smaller targeted industry, which happens to be the biggest user of plastics: Building Construction. An industry that to put it shortly, loves placing its "buns" onto two chairs at once (abusers of plastics and huge supporters of Worlds Green Regulations), so it was kind of expected that without even a slightest research base recycled plastic is being introduced, making everyone wonder how safe it actually is after all the processing it goes through to "reenact" the performances of virgin plastics and somehow save the environment, unlike its predecessor.

To evaluate the performance of anything, we tend to look at only the peaks of existence, but what happens with the test of time, it seems that a persistent theme of the human psyche is a tendency for selective, shallow attention. For example, let's look at the material exhaustion of plastics, both virgin and bio, compared to the narrative plastered all over the fine print of the "ingredients list". Its marketing has taken a whole new level of physiologically compelling conclusions and beliefs onto the consumers without wanting or needing to double-check the facts. Capturing and promoting the performance of a plastic product without taking into consideration everyday scenarios that can inflict significant friction onto the chemical layers, spreading its toxicity for us to either inhale, ingest, or even absorb. It is kind of beautiful that something that feels and looks so unnatural has found its space inside of all nature's parts; a complete cycle of content and material over-absorption.

It cannot be said that plastics as an overall material haven't helped in many ways, lowering the production time of elements that can be adjusted based on the needed performance, therefore making magnified numbers of products that are ready to sell for a very low price. However, that is not all that plastics have given us; it kind of reestablished the "communist" drive for equality, or in this case, mutations of communist ideology, leading to cheap equality of luxury. But it is not this part that is of concern: it is the adjustability of material that becomes a concern for the health of the users, its performance additives, or simply a witch's brew pot. A bit of stabilizers, a bit of plasticizer, and a pinch of flame retardants will get you a long way of 50 years or more with a perfect product, just like that multi-glazed PVC window frames – I bet that new Energy Efficiency Certificate gets jealous every time! All in all, in theory the brew is perfectly trapped within the product, and then comes the rhythm of life with unexpected degradation, whether it is the physical weathering of the building elements (which is an avoidable consequence of our constant moving and simple existing in space), or those "50" years have finally came and its time to toss that old plastic and install the societally/culturally accepted and forced recycled plastic elements.

It would be nice to think that we are changing something in the environment by keeping the idea of cycle economy alive, but first of all, only 10%, more or less, worldwide gets recycled and reused in the building construction industry. Nevertheless, the problem is not in how little we try to reuse/recycle something, but rather more of a problem of many additives put into recycled plastics mixtures in order to maintain structural and performance integrity ( Erica Cirino et al., 2023 ). The whole process starts by grinding and melting the degraded plastic elements into which the new additives are being introduced into the dough, restoring the material to make it act as if it's a fresh new start. From this point, this plastic has many ways of being introduced into the economy, as a structural element, as an additive to homogenize other materials and elements (asphalts, composites, lumbers, and synthetic turfs), or through the food and fashion industry…either way, they will find their way to our bodies. But both in recycling and the creation of virgin plastics, they start by burning, which produces enormous amounts of toxic chemicals into the air, free for all of us to consume; bringing us at the very start of the whole other problem with plastics and the consumption of energy and CO2 release (Landrigan et al., 2023).

Let's take a quick look at some kind of comparison between the additives introduced into both virgin and recycled plastics, just to have some kind of a visual representation showing that the two are not so different in their physical form (in a sense, less toxic) as they are conceptually.

Used to enhance plastic's flexibility, ductility, and impact resistance that could be seen through elements like: flexible PVC membranes, cable insulation, flooring, roofing membranes, wall coverings, or sealants. As many commonly used plasticizers in the past have been banned in new plastics, due to a later understanding of their threat to human health, the legacy contamination can still be found in the recycled plastics. These common toxins are phthalates (e.g., DEHP, DINP), known for endocrine disruption by mimicking hormones (testosteron reduction, reproductive harm), negative developmental effects in children, and is a possible carcinogenic. By entering the body through the mucus, gut lining, or the bloodstream, it could have a possibility (if little enough) of even crossing the blood-brain barrier and placenta barrier…meaning it would be able to reach both the brain and the growing fetus. It is not like your body is not trying to fight it off, liver, for example, the main hero breaks them down, but it is this that creates more toxic breakdown products than the original. Later acting as natural hormones (testosteron and estrogen most of the time) that either jam the locks so the hormones cannot work or they turn the locks at the wrong time, sending false signals to the body…leading to early growing, change, or false hunger.

Just like the name already suggests, their purpose is to reduce flammability and meet building fire safety standards. Used in products like electrical housings, insulation foam, and panels. The toxic elements come from the halogenated retardants like PBDEs (DecaBDE), or TBBPA contained nowadays mostly in the recycled plastics from old electronic waste or construction debris. However, in virgin plastics, under the Stockholm Convention, these toxins are being phased out or controlled in the production, but the negative health effects coming from the existing recycled element roaming the earth can be seen through neurotoxicity, thyroid disruption that is persistent in body fat (bioaccumulative POP). Since these toxins are very heavy and sticky, they tend to stick to the dust, which has clear and easy access through our mouth or nose, from which they can slide right through to the lining of our lungs or guts. PBDEs and TBBPA both look almost identical to thyroid hormones, with which they trick the transport proteins for a free ride to your bloodstream all the way up to your brain…meaning, your brain is not getting enough "fuel" to do its work, or in children, to develop correctly. But do not worry, these toxins are lipophilic, so they will forever cherish your fat, acting as a slow dripping infusion in return.

The usage of metals is to prevent thermal degradation during the processing and in everyday life; these hard and rigid particles get embedded in the plastic matix making the final product more stiff and thermally stable, kind of like a sunblock. This is used for the plastics in the window profiles, panels, pipes, and many composites. From the calcium carbonate, which increases rigidity, to glass fibers that reinforce mechanical strength and natural fibers used in wood-plastic composites (WPCs), to the more traditional approach that is now globally banned for its high toxicity, and can only be found as the legacy contamination in the recycled plastics (lead-based and cadmium-based). The health complications from the lead are connected to the neurotoxicity, developmental and cardiovascular harm, while cadmium is connected to kidney damage and is a known carcinogen. The confusion for both starts the moment they enter the system, since they are labeled as calcium and zinc by the body. Their pathways are pretty much the same, but their targets are not the same, for the lead that acts as a calcium its primary goal is interfering with brain cells talk and work with each other leading to lower IQ and behavioural issue; and as your body tries to hide its mistake by infusing the bones with excess lead, giving you some time before actually feeling the consequences. While for cadmium, the target is the kidneys, and as they try to filter it down, cadmium becomes lodged throughout the renal tubules, slowly scarring them until the kidneys can no longer filter the blood. One of the reasons why there is no actual "safe" amount for the intake of these substances (lead and cadmium), unlike for the flame retardants and the plasticizer (where there is a possible safe amount), is that the hard metals cannot be broken down by the body, so they just stay there…chillin'.

While the full recipe lists for this witch's brew will, for most of the parts, look very straightforward, many witches add some "personalized" chemical touches that will stay unknown for us, the mundanes (Zimmermann et al., 2020). But what can show us a better picture of these recipes is what can be found all over our bodies as explored in the study of Rakesh Kumara and Camelia Manna et al. 2022, "Several studies reported that MPs and NPs are vectors for toxic chemicals transport, like, antibiotics, nutrients, heavy metals (i.e., cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, chromium, etc.), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), etc., in natural ecosystems (Ashton et al., 2010; Barletta et al., 2019; Yu et al., 2019, 2020; Mao et al., 2020; Naqash et al., 2020.)"

Now I would like to turn to the most commonly used types of plastics, both virgin and recycled, and the toxicity that accompanies them throughout their use in the building environment. The first place will always be taken by the PVC (both flexible and rigid) along with its new form, rPVC (recycled PVC), both as the most used and the most toxic one; a real omnichampion in all of the categories. In order to understand the level of PVC usage, in Europe, it is the 4th most common type of plastic for all the industries, 6.5 million tons, but funny enough, PVC takes up only 10% of all plastic used in Europe. Now, finally, we can get over the explanation of possible harms of PVC without taking into the considerations many additives introduced in the matrix. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a long plastic chain made of vinyl chloride molecules, each having one chlorine atom attached. By itself (the solid plastic), it is not dangerous just sitting in one place, but its chemical nature makes it potentially toxic in many ways - especially when it breaks down or gets heated. It would be hard to give an exact number and types of chemicals that can be released, due to many production companies tending to have different product formulas, therefore it's easier to guess what you'll get for the secret Santa present than this.

These chemical releases can happen from many very much possible scenarios, thermal degradation (wildfires are increasing in a very rapid trajectory, in 2023 - 11.9 million ha and only one year later 2024 - 13.5 million ha burnt down globaly; and by 2030 the increase will be expected for 14% more) or chemicall degradation due to the influence of other chemical that got released from the product. Building on the previous discussion of thermal degradation scenarios, let's give it a chemical explanation of how the toxins even get out onto the surface. Because raw PVC lacks thermal stability (when heated above 70-100°C), its chain bonds between carbon and chlorine start breaking down. This breakable bond then starts releasing hydrogen chloride gas (HCl), which is highly corrosive and acidic, and is a known lung, eye, and skin irritant. But the actual burning of PVC creates even more toxic substances in the air, dioxins(e.g., polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (benzenes - UV stabilizers usually). These compounds are persistent environmental toxins, which tend to stick around in the bodies and the ecosystem, causing long-term damage. Back in 2004, research from Sweden was able to detect DEHP (and butyl benzyl phthalate) compounds inside the dust particles that can be found in the PVC flooring or wall materials, using a sample of 390 homes. 10 years later, in 2014, a group of French researchers studied the quality of indoor air and dust in only 30 homes, but again, even with this small sample, the researchers were able to highlight almost the same conclusions as the study from Swedish researchers, DEHP (overall any phthalates) had the highest concentration.

As I have already mentioned other way of degradation through the accidental release of some other chemical into the system like in the material of pipes reacting to the actual wall of those pipes, and when taking a look at all the possible chemicals not connected to any sort of black magic or vile sacrifices of animals, but was a way of describing the true nature of humans: pride, indulgence, and independence. And the true ethics of his teachings were "Do what benefits you, but take responsibility for your actions". But with people, you cannot truly practice this on a mass scale, especially when teaching them to only follow "rational" self-interest and personal power, because this part tends to erase the existence of "taking responsibility for actions" once those actions cannot be rationalised. But as we move from the 1966 and go towards the 1980s, known as the years of mass Satanic Panic period, where there were the first mentions of "the satanism" and its practicings - sacrificing for the self greater good through the help of the sinister side or else the Devil himself. I can say that I understand the connections between the mass conclusions and the original proposal, but again, how did we lose this important part of the teaching, taking the responsibility? Was the glamour of total ego-embodiment so alluring that the desire for responsibility vanished, or did the reactions of people to your doings get you ashamed, but the mistake cannot be erased now, you can only try to distance yourself from it and indulge in the next great fulfillment strike?

While doing the research, I came across an interesting article presenting the connection of recycled plastics to this analogy that I am trying to push: "Beyond Plastics: The Myths And Truths About Recycling, And Potential Solutions" by Christopher Marquis. "The perception that plastic is easily recyclable — and that the burden of recycling lies solely with the consumer — has been shaped by decades of carefully constructed campaigns paid for by many of the most prevalent producers of plastic." As already discussed adventages of plastic that are beneficial for all the possible industries, the one that actually brings the verdict to the table is the profit/benefit it brings to everyone. Above all, in today's capitalised world, it is what moves people and their moral grounds.

As a child, the first time you see the mad and disappointing expression on your parents' face for something that you did and would not think was bad, the first instinct is to blame it on whatever is the next most believable thing BUT you. Rather than dismissing this simply as childish behavior, we must dive deeper into human psychodynamics. More specifically, into the Jungian representation of some child-like behaviour, long into adulthood. As we grow up, our ego tries to suppress this child behaviour within us (which continues to live as an autonomous complexity in our unconscious), but it never really is gone and can come up at the worst possible moments as dreams, moods, or "irrational" emotional reactions under stressed evironment - leading to drastic and bad decisions. And it would look like for some, their decisions led all of us to a thread of micro and nano plastics taking over our food chain, and that the end result is at present unknown. Nonetheless, admitting the wrongdoings is harder when there is a lot of money on the line soo I guess you gotta blame someone else, like us, the consumers, and give us "alternatives" as a way to let us "redeem" ourselves. And those alternatives are presented with those beautiful green logos and nature symbols with brands representing themselves as spokesperson for the environment, concluding that it must be straight from the mother nature herself to our hands…divine goods. But again, Mother Nature's product came right from the witches' brew pot, with the failed promises of a safer future successor of virgin plastic. I guess the next fulfillment strike for these companies was these green alternatives that are acting as a lifeboat if the blame comes back to bite them, funding a few organisations here and there, changing the dye on the product and pish posh, their conscience is at rest, and no one needs to know the price of moral degradation, and later "rationalisation".

This whole idea of recycling materials is not a new "invention" but a different outlook on the meaning of the word. Throughout the existence of the cities, the term recycling was seen as a way of borrowing building elements and using them in the construction of a new one. One of these kind of examples are explored through Anna Leone and Patrizio Pensabene (following case studies, covering the periods between the 4th to 6th centuries in North Africa and between the 4th to 13th centuries in Rome). However, it was around the 6th century that it truly became a "normal" practice to reuse public building elements (spoliation). The difficulty and expenses of transportation of materials meant using what can be locally found from the abandoned and old buildings, giving at the same time a new urban picture like the Pelagian basilica of S. Lorenzo that may have used the cornices and etablatures from the adjacent Constantinian-era circus-like basilica that was abandoned. But this is extending to even embodying recycled tufa blocks from ancient walls into the foundations of new churches. With time, the whole professional system was born, focused on reworking spolia to give them greater uniformity with the rest of its environment and educating on needed skills and procedures, later naming it "Cosmatesque workshop", which emerged by the Romanesque period. Inherently, this idea was brought for economical resons, scarcity of materials, transportation possibilities, along with simple pragmatic reasons, which did more than recycle but had an impact on reshaping cities' geography, economy, and monumentality; repurposing the city.

The effects and consequences of having micro and nano plastics roaming the environment, along with their additives, organic and inorganic substances that are used in the production of plastics, are becoming more persistent and are rapidly multiplying. Studies are starting to find many and different disrupting activities and properties that MPs and NPs are transporting: brominated flame retardants, di-ethylhexyl adipate (DEHA), phthalates, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and many more POPs. As an example of a plastic, in the paper of Concetta Pironti and Valentina Notarstefano (first detections of MPs and NPs in human urin), they have taken PS (polystyrene) as an example which is connected to different negative effects of health, causing "...reduction in human lung cell viability, cell cycle arrest, the activation of inflammatory genes, and the promotion of cell apoptosis." I guess one could say we started consuming more than just those "hopeful" and "money grab" eco slogans and goals; we started sheltering that plastic within us from the "balls" to the brain.

In the recent years a study on a sample of 13 lung tissues of people undergoing "surgical resection for cancer or lung volume reduction surgery", again even with a small sample group, resulted in finding 11 different MPs in the upper region with total mass of 33,66g (PE; PET; PP; PES; PS; TPE; SEBS; resin). The middle region only contained 7 MPs with a total mass of 12g, and the lower region had a staggering 21 MPs weighing only 9g. However, even if you changed everything that you possibly can in your own and private environment, once you are out of the circle of comfort, we are all exposed to these particles within the outdoor air of the cities. Again it is not even the particles in the dust that you can see with your bare eye, but the smallest and the least dense ones that are most likely to be ingested easily and can penetrate the furthest within the walls of the organs, estimating 6 to 272 MPs ingested daily (Vianello et al. 2019; Prata 2018; Domenech and Marcus 2021; Lauren C. Jenner et al. 2022).

What about organs needed for bringing generations of new "hope"? What would happen if the main fertility elements are compromised? In men, we'd be examining semen and testicles, while for women, it's the main support and protection of a fetus, a placenta…For example, in a study of testing both testis and semen, in the sample of 6 examined testis, 4 were found to have 31 MPs, highlighting the abundance of plastic particles within these samples, with PS making up 67,7% of all the MPs found…this is followed by PVC, PE, and PP. For the testing of semen, the sample is a bit bigger, 25 participants, with the outcome of 11 having MPs in their semen. The most persistent ones are PVC and PE, both sharing 50% of all the MP types found, PA, PS, PP, and PET (Qiancheng Zhao et al., 2023). Sooo…in that ever-so beautiful process of creation of the baby, parts of the genetic material are "enriched" with many types of MPs and NPs; leading to what exactly…a plastic man/homo polymericus?

The next phase would be harbouring this homo polymericus into a well-suited placenta, containing it in a polymerised environment, and adapting it to what is already waiting for it once outside; at this point. If following Darwin's theory of evolution, this step is needed for the preservation of the fittest and the prolongation of the species. Therefore, it should not come as a shock to actually find fragments of plastics inside a placenta, 5 MPs from the foetal side, which would mean that the ingested fragments of plastics had entered mothers blood stream and had reached and crossed the placenta's membrane all the way to the internal layer containing the fetus. Some of these fragments, when trying to penetrate through the walls of the placent tend to get trapped in the chorioamniotic membranes in which 3 MP fragments were found, and 4 MPs latched onto the mother's side of the placenta (Antonio Ragusa et al., 2021).

Let's now go a bit deeper into the body of this homo polymericus. What would the most important organ be composed of? I mean with variety of polymers, so does the variety of possible homo mixtures grow, like in the paper of Raffaele Marfella et al. where 257 patients were used as a testing sample, from which 150 patients were detected with enormously high amount of PE (58.4%) in carotid artery plaque, while 31 had a higher level of PVC within the plaque. So if we broadened the sample and gave a wider variety of test subjects, maybe we would be able to find many more types of homo polymericus if we were to categorize them by their carotid artery polymer type? Nevertheless, the plastics do not stop there, as our homo polymericus child is growing, the effects of plastics tend to get to the brain and interfere with activity. The whole exploration of this outcome is beautifully studied in the SELMA study, which assessed cognitive functions using Wechsler Intelligence Full-scale IQ for children at age 7. The sample of these children started while the mothers were pregnant with them in the first trimester throughout 2007, and finished with testing 718 children with complete data and variables in 2010. The overall scores of the IQ tests for both children and their mothers present the cognitive abilities and the presence of certain types of plastics throughout the pregnancy, and their sex-specific negative effects on children. When looking at the results, it was very interesting noticing that in both genders the persistent pollutants are different phthalates (Mono-ethyl phthalate, Mono-benzyl phthalate) and flame retardants (like Di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phosphate (DPHP)). As already mentioned, problems with these chemicals, we cannot say that a solution for any problem with plastics is the creation of theoretical "clear conscience" plastics. It is obvious that toxins tend to follow plastics throughout any process and transformation since their ability to transform is the main reason for choosing plastics over any other material…This "trend" is not only seen in the recycled plastic mania but is also in bioplastics, compostable plastics, and all the other experimentations that are, at the time, "cool" inheritors and conquerors of environmental pollution, but deep in their roots are surrounded by many problems. The only question now is…