From the summit of Mount Everest to the deep depths of the Marianna Trench – and even our brains. Microplastics – tiny substances linked to cancer, infertility and a host of health issues – are found everywhere.
A new film, called ‘Plastic People,’ has tracked the particle problem to the 1950s when the plastic industry convinced the public to abandon their thrift and frugality in favor of disposable products more beneficial to their bottom line.
The documentary team zeroed
Tiny particles of plastic have been found everywhere — from the deepest place on the planet, the Mariana Trench, to the top of Mount Everest. And now more and more studies are finding that microplastics, defined as plastic pieces less than 5 millimeters across, are also in our bodies.
“What we are looking at is the biggest oil spill ever,” says Maria Westerbos, founder of the Plastic Soup Foundation, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit advocacy organization that works to reduce plastic pollution
Microplastics have been found in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time, a new study has revealed.
Experts fear these tiny particles – smaller than a grain of rice – could post a threat to the health of the frozen continent’s delicate ecosystems.
Not only this, but on a wider scale their presence in the air has the potential to influence the climate by accelerating the melting of snow and ice.
Microplastics have previously been discovered in Antarctic
Talk about the observer effect! Scientists studying microplastic contamination in remote Antarctica found a significant amount actually came from their own ship.
University of Basel-led experts filtered eight million litres of water from the remote Weddell Sea to determine the levels and origins of microplastic contamination.
The team studied 101 particles in detail, and found that 89 per cent came from their own ship.
The findings suggest that shipping is a key driver of Antarctic plastic pollution, and highlight the
