NEXT MEETING: HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 3-7 2026

The plastic revolution transformed the modern world. Lightweight, durable, cheap, and endlessly versatile, it became the defining material of the 20th century. But the same properties that made it indispensable made its fragmentation and environmental persistence inevitable. Microplastics are now detected in every environmental compartment on earth, in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the tissue of every organ system studied to date. This presentation traces the arc from definitional debates and analytical method development to emerging human bioaccumulation data and accelerating regulatory action, asking the hard questions the Plastic Age never paused to answer.