In 2015, humans worldwide produced roughly 322 million tonnes of plastic. That’s more than 2014, 2013, or any other year. Even with recent efforts to regulate waste, a lot of this plastic is bound to get thrown away into natural environments. Plastic biodegrades very difficultly, so we end up having tiny little bits of it called microplastics end up in pretty much everything. Microplastics are small fragments of plastic less than 5mm in size. Some examples of microplastics are small beads or glittery makeup. Microplastics are found anywhere from inside water, fish, and soil. Scientists estimated in 2014 that there are between 15 to 51 billion pieces of microplastic in the oceans of the world. After hearing all this, I ask myself: what effects are these microplastics causing to our planet and to us?
Effects on the environmentThe different effects of microplastics on the environment are still unclear. All we know for now is that they have infiltrated even the most remote places on earth. Beaches and Oceans are a hotspot for them. While eating zooplankton, fish also accidentally consume small bits of plastic. These fish then get eaten by bigger predators and these microplastics make their way up the food chain. Effects on marine life are still unclear, but we know that some plastics containing mercury can be very harmful to them.
Effects on human health
There are many ways microplastics can get in our bodies. We can eat fish or drink water contaminated with microplastics. We can also breathe in glitter, for example. Recently, microplastics were found in human stool for the first time. This raises many questions. How did it make its way through the body? Did it cause any harm? As of now, scientists do not have any definitive answers to these questions. We can only hope for the best until further research is made.
In conclusion, as worrying as this microplastic situation sounds, we do not have many concrete answers to what effects it can bring. However, one thing is sure. As humans, we must be more mindful of our often irresponsible usage of plastic. We never know what negative effects it could have on our planet in the future.
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