The Plastic Detox
The new Netflix doc about the plastics in our tea and genitalia might just change our lives.
Image courtesy of Netflix.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
With the twin fists of war and global warming slamming into our children’s future, a more insidious threat has slipped under the carpet. And it’s everywhere. It’s in the make-up we slap on our faces, in the bottled water we drink, in the textiles we wear and in the food that we eat. According to one source, there is enough plastic in the human brain to make a plastic spoon, and it’s really, really dangerous. While the data in Josh Murphy and Louie Psihoyos’ compelling documentary is jaw-dropping, it is not without hope. Our guide is the sprightly 88-year-old reproductive epidemiologist Dr Shanna Swan who introduces us to six couples who have been trying to have a baby (in one case for over ten years). But, unbeknownst to them, microplastics in their environment have seriously eroded the efficacy of sperm and is actually reducing the size of genitalia of future generations. And the microplastics we unknowingly imbibe are not just harming us, but the make-up of our unborn child and its own reproductive potential.
The Plastic Detox would be all doom and gloom were it not for Dr Swan’s upbeat manner and the buoyant accompanying score. Dr Swan knows what the problem is and at least on a personal level we are able to limit the damage of the plastics in our life. On one level, this is a how-to directive and without wishing to give too much away, Dr Swan knows of what she speaks – and proves the efficacy of her methods. Worldwide, she tells us, fertility has dropped by fifty percent, a reality which is going to be an untenable burden on future generations.
At the moment there is a glut of non-fiction paranoia on the small screen, warning that pretty much everything is bad for us. The answer is to absorb the information wisely, to adapt our habits accordingly, but not to let fear erode our mental health. We now know the deadly properties of asbestos, DDT pesticide and the harm of leaded petrol, and society has adjusted accordingly. We must now be more selective with our choice of clothing – textiles and the petro-chemical dyes that colour them are the worst offenders – and embrace the new choices that are on the horizon, particularly goods that utilise natural ingredients.
Beyond Dr Swan’s three-month experiment, the film delves into the revenue-driven evil of the large petro-chemical companies that knowingly pollute our world, focusing in particular on the horrific death toll of the so-called Cancer Valley, an 85-mile stretch of industrial belt between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Big Tobacco had its day and The Plastic Detox cannot stress more strongly – or eloquently – the need for governmental action and persuasion to bring down the petro-chemical syndicates that consciously put profit before human health.
Featuring Dr Shanna Swan, Sharon Lavigne, Philip Landrigan, John Warner, Lennox Yearwood, Jasmine McDonald, Antonio Ragusa, Sonya M. Schuh, Cyrill Gutsch, John Kerry, Jane Fonda.
Dir Josh Murphy and Louie Psihoyos, Pro Josh Murphy and Laura Wagner, Screenplay Mark Monroe, Ph Zachary Rockwood and August Thurmer, Ed Collin Kriner, Music Craig DeLeon, Sound Mac Smith.
Oceanic Preservation Society/Minderoo Pictures/Netflix/City Hill Arts/Concordia Studio/Diamond Docs-Netflix.
92 mins. USA/Australia. 2025. UK and US Rel: 16 March 2026. Cert. 12.
