Microplastics

Microplastics in sediments from four rivers in Germany. Note the diverse shapes indicated by white arrowheads. (The white bars represent 1 mm for scale.)
Photodegraded Plastic Straw. A light touch breaks larger straw into microplastics.
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Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than 5 mm (0.20 in) in length,[1] according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)[2][3] and the European Chemicals Agency.[4] They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, food packaging, and industrial processes.[1][5] The term microplastics is used to differentiate from larger, non-microscopic plastic waste. Two classifications of microplastics are currently recognized. Primary microplastics include any plastic fragments or particles that are already 5.0 mm in size or less before entering the environment.[5] These include microfibers from clothing, microbeads, plastic glitter[6] and plastic pellets (also known as nurdles).[7][8][9] Secondary microplastics arise from the degradation (breakdown) of larger plastic products through natural weathering processes after entering the environment.[5] Such sources of secondary microplastics include water and soda bottles, fishing nets, plastic bags, microwave containers, tea bags and tire wear.[10][9][11][12] Both types are recognized to persist in the environment at high levels, particularly in aquatic and marine ecosystems, where they cause water pollution.[13] 35% of all ocean microplastics come from textiles/clothing, primarily due to the erosion of polyester, acrylic, or nylon-based clothing, often during the washing process.[14] However, microplastics also accumulate in the air and terrestrial ecosystems. Because plastics degrade slowly (often over hundreds to thousands of years),[15][16] microplastics have a high probability of ingestion, incorporation into, and accumulation in the bodies and tissues of many organisms.[1] The toxic chemicals that come from both the ocean and runoff can also biomagnify up the food chain.[17][18] In terrestrial ecosystems, microplastics have been demonstrated to reduce the viability of soil ecosystems.[19][20] As of 2023, the cycle and movement of microplastics in the environment was not fully known.[5] Deep layer ocean sediment surveys in China (2020) show the presence of plastics in deposition layers far older than the invention of plastics, leading to suspected underestimation of microplastics in surface sample ocean surveys.[21]

  1. ^ a b c Ghosh, Shampa; Sinha, Jitendra Kumar; Ghosh, Soumya; Vashisth, Kshitij; Han, Sungsoo; Bhaskar, Rakesh (January 2023). "Microplastics as an Emerging Threat to the Global Environment and Human Health". Sustainability. 15 (14): 10821. doi:10.3390/su151410821. ISSN 2071-1050.
  2. ^ Arthur, Courtney; Baker, Joel; Bamford, Holly (2009). "Proceedings of the International Research Workshop on the Occurrence, Effects and Fate of Microplastic Marine Debris" (PDF). NOAA Technical Memorandum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  3. ^ Collignon, Amandine; Hecq, Jean-Henri; Galgani, François; Collard, France; Goffart, Anne (2014). "Annual variation in neustonic micro- and meso-plastic particles and zooplankton in the Bay of Calvi (Mediterranean–Corsica)" (PDF). Marine Pollution Bulletin. 79 (1–2): 293–298. Bibcode:2014MarPB..79..293C. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.11.023. PMID 24360334. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. ^ European Chemicals Agency. "Restricting the use of intentionally added microplastic particles to consumer or professional use products of any kind". ECHA. European Commission. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Ghosh, Shampa; Sinha, Jitendra Kumar; Ghosh, Soumya; Vashisth, Kshitij; Han, Sungsoo; Bhaskar, Rakesh (June 2023). "Microplastics as an Emerging Threat to the Global Environment and Human Health". Sustainability. 15 (14): 10821. doi:10.3390/su151410821. ISSN 2071-1050.
  6. ^ Green, DS; Jefferson, M; Boots, B; Stone, L (January 2021). "All that glitters is litter? Ecological impacts of conventional versus biodegradable glitter in a freshwater habitat". Journal of Hazardous Materials. 402: 124070. Bibcode:2021JHzM..40224070G. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124070. ISSN 0304-3894. PMID 33254837. S2CID 224894411. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  7. ^ Cole, M; Lindeque, P; Fileman, E; Halsband, C; Goodhead, R; Moger, J; Galloway, TS (2013). "Microplastic Ingestion by Zooplankton". Environmental Science & Technology. 47 (12): 6646–55. Bibcode:2013EnST...47.6646C. doi:10.1021/es400663f. hdl:10871/19651. PMID 23692270.
  8. ^ "Where Does Marine Litter Come From?". Marine Litter Facts. British Plastics Federation. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  9. ^ a b Boucher, Julien; Friot, Damien (2017). Primary microplastics in the oceans: A global evaluation of sources. doi:10.2305/IUCN.CH.2017.01.en. ISBN 978-2831718279.
  10. ^ Kovochich, M; Liong, M; Parker, JA; Oh, SC; Lee, JP; Xi, L; Kreider, ML; Unice, KM (February 2021). "Chemical mapping of tire and road wear particles for single particle analysis". Science of the Total Environment. 757: 144085. Bibcode:2021ScTEn.75744085K. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144085. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 33333431. S2CID 229318535.
  11. ^ Conkle, JL; Báez Del Valle, CD; Turner, JW (2018). "Are We Underestimating Microplastic Contamination in Aquatic Environments?". Environmental Management. 61 (1): 1–8. Bibcode:2018EnMan..61....1C. doi:10.1007/s00267-017-0947-8. PMID 29043380. S2CID 40970384.
  12. ^ "Plastic free July: How to stop accidentally consuming plastic particles from packaging". Stuff. 11 July 2019. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Development solutions: Building a better ocean". European Investment Bank. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  14. ^ Resnick, Brian (19 September 2018). "More than ever, our clothes are made of plastic. Just washing them can pollute the oceans". Vox. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  15. ^ Chamas, Ali; Moon, Hyunjin; Zheng, Jiajia; Qiu, Yang; Tabassum, Tarnuma; Jang, Jun Hee; Abu-Omar, Mahdi; Scott, Susannah L.; Suh, Sangwon (2020). "Degradation Rates of Plastics in the Environment". ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 8 (9): 3494–3511. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b06635.
  16. ^ Klein S, Dimzon IK, Eubeler J, Knepper TP (2018). "Analysis, Occurrence, and Degradation of Microplastics in the Aqueous Environment". In Wagner M, Lambert S (eds.). Freshwater Microplastics. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. Vol. 58. Cham.: Springer. pp. 51–67. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_3. ISBN 978-3319616148. See Section 3, "Environmental Degradation of Synthetic Polymers".
  17. ^ Grossman, Elizabeth (15 January 2015). "How Plastics from Your Clothes Can End up in Your Fish". Time. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  18. ^ "How Long Does it Take Trash to Decompose". 4Ocean. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Why food's plastic problem is bigger than we realise". www.bbc.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  20. ^ Nex, Sally (2021). How to garden the low carbon way: the steps you can take to help combat climate change (First American ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0744029284. OCLC 1241100709.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^ Xue B, Zhang L, Li R, Wang Y, Guo J, Yu K, Wang S (February 2020). "Underestimated Microplastic Pollution Derived from Fishery Activities and "Hidden" in Deep Sediment". Environmental Science & Technology. 54 (4): 2210–2217. Bibcode:2020EnST...54.2210X. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b04850. PMID 31994391. S2CID 210950462.