From: Douglas Grandt answerthecall@mac.

com
Subject: What do your advisors know about plastic ingestion?
Date: June 20, 2019 at 8:09 AM
To: Darren W. Woods Darren.W.Woods@ExxonMobil.com, Lisa Murkowski senator_murkowski@murkowski.senate.gov
Cc: Neil A. Hansen neil.a.hansen@exxonmobil.com, Theodore J. Wojnar theodore.j.wojnar@exxonmobil.com, Suzanne M. McCarron
Suzanne.M.McCarron@ExxonMobil.com, Max Schulz max.schulz@exxonmobil.com, John Crowther (Senate ENR-R)
John_Crowther@energy.senate.gov, Melissa Enriquez (Senate ENR-R) Melissa_Enriquez@energy.senate.gov,
Senator Bernie Sanders info@sanders.senate.gov, Katie Thomas (Sen.Sanders) katie_thomas@sanders.senate.gov,
Hinch, Ethan (Sanders) Ethan_Hinch@sanders.senate.gov

Dear Darren and Lisa,

If plastic ingestion is a dangerous emergency, then what?

What is the endgame for ExxonMobil’s imminent demise?

Seriously!
Doug Grandt

Revealed: plastic ingestion by people could

be equating to a credit card a week
A new study finds on average people could be ingesting
approximately 5 grams of plastic every week, which is the equivalent
weight of a credit card. The analysis No Plastic in Nature: Assessing
Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People prepared by Dalberg, based on
a study commissioned by WWF and carried out by University of
Newcastle, Australia, suggests people are consuming about 2000 tiny
pieces of plastic every week. That’s approximately 21 grams a month,
just over 250 grams a year.
The University of Newcastle is the first global analysis to combine data from over 50
studies on the ingestion of microplastics by people. The findings are an important step
towards understanding the impact of plastic pollution on humans. It also further confirms
the urgent need to address the plastic system so that it does not pollute ecosystems in
the first place.
c
“These findings must serve as a wake-up call to governments. Not only are
plastics polluting our oceans and waterways and killing marine life - it’s in all of us
and we can’t escape consuming plastics. Global action is urgent and essential to
tackling this crisis,” said Marco Lambertini, WWF International Director General
c
“While research is investigating potential negative effects of plastic on human
“While research is investigating potential negative effects of plastic on human
health, we are all clear that this is a worldwide problem that can only be solved by
addressing the root cause of plastic pollution. If we don’t want plastic in our
bodies, we need to stop the millions of tons of plastic that continue leaking into
nature every year. In order to tackle the plastic crisis, we need urgent action at
government, business and consumer levels, and a global treaty with global targets
to address plastic pollution,” continued Lambertini.
c
The study demonstrated a wide range in ingestion patterns. Whilst being mindful of the
limitations of this evolving field of research, initial findings point towards a global average
ingestion rate of plastic by humans of approximately 5 grams per week.
c
The single largest source of plastic ingestion is through water, both bottled and tap, all
over the world. Large regional variations are reflected again, with twice as much plastic
found in the US or India than in European or Indonesian water. Of the consumables
studied, those with the highest recorded plastic levels include shellfish, beer and salt.
The findings of the report demonstrate that the problem of plastic pollution is a universal
one and directly affecting people. Leakage of plastic into our environment and food chain
has been met so far with an inadequate global response by governments.
c
No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People calls for
governments to step up and play a key role in ensuring the entire chain in the plastic
system, from manufacturers to consumers, are held accountable to the common goal of
ending plastic pollution. WWF is mobilising the public to support the global petition calling
for a legally binding treaty on marine plastics pollution that has already garnered over
500,000 signatures. The treaty would establish national targets and transparent reporting
mechanisms that extend to companies. Additionally, the treaty should provide for financial
and technical support for low-income countries to scale up their waste management
capacity.
c
“While the awareness of microplastics and their impact on the environment is increasing,
this study has helped to provide an accurate calculation of ingestion rates for the first
time. Developing a method for transforming counts of microplastic particles into masses
will help determine the potential toxicological risks for humans moving forward,”
comments Dr Thava Palanisami, project co-lead and microplastics researcher at the
University of Newcastle.
c
Ingestion is just one aspect of a much wider plastics crisis. Plastic pollution is a major
threat to wildlife, not only through microplastic ingestion but via entanglement and habitat
destruction. Plastic pollution also has damaging economic consequences, with the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) estimating its annual economic impact on the ocean
economy at US$8 billion.

https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?348337/Revealed-plastic-ingestion-by-people-could-
be-equating-to-a-credit-card-a-week