We explain what microplastics are, where they are, their causes and consequences. In addition, what are the possible solutions.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic from different origins. Since they measure less than 5 millimeters, they are stored in the environment and constitute an important source of pollution today. Its presence has been detected in animals, food and even the human intestine.
Since 1950, when the production of plastics began on a massive scale, 8,300 million metric tons of this material have been manufactured (that is, the equivalent of 1,000 million elephants or 80 million blue whales). Only 9% of them are recycled . The rest will give the environment, where it begins a very long process of decomposition, since it does not biodegrade.
However, it does disintegrate due to the action of climatic and biological agents. Thus, plastics release small fragments that different forms of life confuse with food , storing it in their organisms that fail to digest them, and thus incorporating it into their respective trophic chains .
The effects of microplastics in the organism of living beings are being studied. What is known is that this type of particles foreign to the usual organic matter of their tissues can neither be digested nor assimilated, but can be expelled by natural routes at best. It is increasingly common to find animals killed by poisoning with plastics of different sizes.
In fact, the presence of microplastics has been verified in places as diverse as Arctic snow, sea water , the lower part of the atmosphere , the interior of commercial water bottles of different brands, the gut of the fish or even in the fecal matter of human beings .
The WHO , in charge of these studies, has warned of the urgency of stopping the production of plastics and give them a more rational use of existing as well as promote the culture of recycling and the responsible consumption.
The contamination by microplastic originates human manufacture , as the plastic in its various forms does not exist in nature . In this way, it is possible to classify microplastics depending on their specific origin, in:
For now, the consequences of contamination by microplastics are unknown , beyond their abundant presence in the most diverse environments and the numbers of animals found with this material housed in their stomachs.
The death by poisoning plastic seems a remote possibility in humans, for now, but it is impossible to determine what the increase in these particles could produce in our bodies: obstructions, unexpected biochemical reactions, abscesses, poisoning, etc.
There are no quick and immediate solutions to this problem , but there are a number of measures that can be put in place to address it, such as:
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