Plastics production, usage, and waste have risen unabated for the last 70 years. In 2015, there was one metric ton of plastic waste for every person on earth. Our efforts to contain plastic waste are at their limits, and we now see plastics in remote corners of the earth, marine wildlife, and in our own diets. Researchers commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund estimate that we eat a credit card’s weight in plastic every week. Join Dr. Campen as he discusses the origins and distribution of plastics in our world, and concerns related to human health as a result of this growing exposure.
Dr. Campen is a Regents’ Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UNM College of Pharmacy.
His UNM research program trains postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and even high school students, in toxicology and environmental health. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His current research projects include toxicity of e-cigarettes, placental and neurovascular alterations from particulate exposures, and assessment of health effects from abandoned uranium mines on tribal lands in the southwest. He earned his BS (Biochemistry and Psychology) at Virginia Tech and MSPH and PhD at Univ. NC at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health (Environmental Sciences and Engineering). Postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
