Are the Everywhere Microplastics Filling the Ocean, the Environment, & Your Stomach ?

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SITUATION:

Microplastics are found everywhere., particularly in the Ocean. And that is becoming a problem.

Found in the ocean & coastal waters, shorelines, ocean seabed, & sea surface.

Microplstics are pollutants and are of the greatest concern to environmentalists.

Source is that they wash down a drain & are not removed by wastewater treatment, processes, or filtration systems.

Eventually this creates  problems in the environment & spreads to the ocean.

SIGNIFICANCE:

Micoplastics aer plastic pieces less than 5 millimeters in size.

Microplastics are used in manufacturing, industry, & 3D printing.

Are in consumer products such as synthetic clothing fabric, toothpaste, & skincare products.

Also forms when plastics break apart into tiny beads.

Primary microplastics include microbeads, nurdles and fibres from plastic materials. .

Secondary microplastics are formed because of larger plastics breaking down

Major sources of Microplastics include:

• Agricultural runoff
• Aquaculture
• Cruise ships
• Ocean dumping
• Storm water
• The shipping and fishing industries
• Urban runoff

Product Sources of “Stealth Microplastics” include:

• Synthetic clothing
• Tennis balls
• Laundry and dishwasher pods/tablets.
• Cigarette butts.
• Wet wipes
• Tea bags.

 SOLUTION(S):

Minimize use of consumer products that might contain microplastics.

Choose paper bags over plastic bags and glass products over plastic ones.

Recycle plastics to help prevent introducing more microplastics in the environment.

Never throw plastic items in lakes, rivers, oceans, or other bodies of water.

Further research is needed to establish how tiny particles affect human breathing.

SAYS:

“There is no nook or cranny on the face of the earth that will not have microplastics”—Janice Brahaney, Author of Study at Utah State University.

STATS:

One research review calculated that the average American eats, drinks, & breathes in more than 74,000 microplastic particles every year.

Possible that humans may be consuming anywhere from 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles a year

With added estimates of how much microplastic might be inhaled, that number is more than 74,000.

SOURCES {Resources}

New study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology:https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag

Health & Science Section of THE WEEK, July 3. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-microplastics.html

Miicroplastics –  https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/sources-of-exposure/microplastics

• Great Pacific Garbage Patch 
  
  National Geographic Society
  
  An encyclopedic entry on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, a collection of marine debris, including microplastics, in the North Pacific Ocean, and efforts to clean it up.
• Toxicological Threats of Plastic
  
  Environmental Protection Agency
  
  Information on hazardous plastic pollution in the marine environment and the dangers of microplastics in water.

This article was first featured at https://fixesandsolutions.com/2020/07/09/are-the-everywhere-microplastics-filling-the-ocean-the-environment-your-stomach/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-the-everywhere-microplastics-filling-the-ocean-the-environment-your-stomach on July 12, 2020 at 03:04PM by chuckparker425

John Jason Fallows

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