When the size of a plastic object does not exceed 5 mm, then such elements are called microplastic. He is practically invisible and has become a sworn enemy of the scientific world and nature. Although microplastic is not an obvious problem for us, every person has daily contact with his particles - during food, drink, cleaning or just playing.
1
Fine Interactive Ice Cream Museum
When the mobile ice cream museum arrived in Miami in 2018, no one expected problems with the law. The organizers of the museum only wanted to amuse the visitors and treat them to their favorite cold treat. One of the ways to have fun and interact with the dessert was the pool, which was filled with multi-colored plastic chips simulating a topping for ice cream. People literally bathed in plastic crumbs. It brought them a lot of fun and joy. But the attention of officials was attracted by these same colored crumbs that were found in sewage.
Apparently, when the animators strewed the floating crumbs, some part crumbled and tiny plastic particles scattered everywhere. The city authorities were unhappy with the crumbs getting into storm drains and feared that they would pollute the sewers and waterways. The museum was fined $ 1,000.
The museum was forced to hire special cleaning machines, blow off crumbs from people leaving the pool, install mesh traps for plastic, and also develop a biodegradable substitute.
2
Plastic instead of salt
Microplastic can hide among salt crystals and even inside them. Sea salt is a consumer product and plastic granules are conveniently located in our salt shakers around the world. When someone salt a dish, then he involuntarily pours polyethylene and polypropylene into his plate. These are the two most common elements found in sea salt. Both elements come from plastic bags, plastic bottles, containers, caps and much more, which is made of plastic.
In 2018, a study was conducted that showed that the problem with contaminated food salt became global and it is now worth revising the risk of such salt with an admixture of plastic for health. As they say, no one wants to eat microparticles of something whose decomposition in nature takes 400 years. It has also been proven that the accumulation of microplastics can cause all sorts of chemical and microbial disorders in the body.
3
Shine is forbidden
Millions of the smallest brilliant confetti delight our eye. Glitter is the basis of any parade or celebration. It is also often used by children for creativity and crafts. But not everyone is a fan of these pretty flickering sparks.
Scientists who are aware of this mega-problem just hate brilliance. Their discontent is so great that they are calling for a ban on the use of brilliance throughout the world.
Why?
In fact, these flickering particles are microplastics. They look like tinted foil, but are made from a polymer called polyethylene terephthalate.
In 2018, 19 English kindergartens were banned from using glitter. For their crafts, children began to use environmentally friendly materials.
Such an innovation was not to everyone's liking. The survey showed that the leadership did not take the problem seriously and only one of the four kindergartens considered it necessary to ban the brilliance in the classrooms.
4
Plastic inside the deepest creatures
When researchers caught crustaceans from the deepest sea faults, they discovered something surprising - there were artificial fibers inside their digestive system. In 2017, six deep-sea faults were chosen for exploration, including the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest place on Earth.
Amphipods live at these depths. These crustaceans feel good at a depth of 11,000 meters and each of them, which was caught and examined, swallowed microplastic. There were no 100% pollution in the other five ocean faults, but not one crustacean species was completely clear of plastic. Even in the deep New Hebri Depression, half of the bottom dwellers ate microplastics. Their menu included nylon fibers, lyocell, viscose and more. Crustaceans even ate PVC. This type of plastic is used to make almost everything - from windows and pipes to credit cards.
Since we are talking about aquatic inhabitants, we cannot but advise you to look at interesting articles about them located on our site most-beauty.ru. This article is about the most beautiful little aquatic creatures in the world, where you will learn a lot about the few smallest animals that live in the water. We also have interesting material about unusual sea creatures that are so similar to aliens from outer space.
5
Giant Plankton Litter
Scientists have discovered how granules floating on the surface ultimately end up on the seabed. This is rather unexpected, but a giant plankton is involved in this process - a creature that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The Pacific species has a length of 10 centimeters and lives among the mucous tissue, which in diameter can reach 1 meter. This so-called “home” is a food-catching filter.
In 2017, scientists in the Monterey Bay plunged into the water and fed giant plankton with microplastics. Then these creatures were caught and placed in a tank to look at their reaction. They acted like a plastic compressor. The plankton digestive system compressed the particles and produced large plastic granules. When the mucosa was full, the contents came out and sank to the bottom of the tank.
This was a possible response to how plastic gets to the seabed. Sea inhabitants, in turn, also eat this plankton containing plastic, and the risk of a plastic snack on our table increases at times.
6
Great Arctic Liberation
The icy world of the Arctic loves to make things big. Sadly, this also has to do with garbage. Scientists published a study in 2018 about ice samples taken in previous years, which reveals two acute problems.
Firstly, the samples showed the highest concentration of microplastic in ice. The analysis of samples revealed 17 different artificial elements at a concentration of 12,000 particles per liter. Samples were taken from different places in the Arctic, which suggests the presence of microplastics everywhere in the ocean.
Secondly, ice becomes a kind of trap for plastic, which is not filtered and contaminates the food chain. But climate change entails melting of ice, threatening to free a huge amount of plastic from ice. This will further aggravate the situation. The ocean already receives eight million tons of plastic from land each year.
7
Cigarette factor
Many people think that plastic bags are the most common rubbish in the sea. This is not true. Yes, their number is huge, but if you arrange a competition, the packages will be in second place after cigarette butts.
In 2014 alone, volunteers collected 2 million cigarette butts from beaches. A filter is a real plastic called cellulose acetate. Sunglasses are also often made from it. Only one filter releases thousands of alkaline particles into the environment. Even if all cigarette filters are biodegradable (which is unlikely to ever happen), they will still pollute the ground with toxins and poisons, which are the result of burning cigarettes.
Therefore, many scientists want to achieve the production of cigarettes without filters. Not only because of the tremendous damage to the oceans and seas, but also for the incorrect interpretation of the usefulness of the filter for human health. A survey in the United States showed that smokers do not want to switch to cigarettes without a filter. In turn, the production of such cigarettes could save $ 41 million, which the US spends on cleaning from discarded cigarette butts. And in Russia, so far they prefer not to notice the problem of pollution of nature by cigarette filters.
8
100% mussel pollution
In 2018, a group of scientists from universities in Britain caught mussels from eight coastal regions. They also bought mussels at various supermarkets. The names of the stores were not intentionally indicated. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that all the mussels contained microplastic. Even imported samples and mussels grown on farms also included microplate particles.
Freshly caught mussels were less plastic-contaminated than frozen mussels. This indicated contamination during processing in factories. But the problem is not only processing. Wild mussels from eight beaches were also covered in plastic.
Garbage gets into these marine animals, because mussels filter seawater, extracting nutrients from it for life.
9
Great Australian Gulf
In 2018, it was decided to check whether all the seas of the planet are really contaminated with microplastic. For this, scientists have chosen a remote and unlikely to be contaminated place - the Great Australian Gulf. This is one of Australia's greatest sea treasures, an area isolated and seemingly untouched.
Researchers have carefully prepared gear and equipment to prevent accidental sample contamination. All cleaned with deionized water. The staff wore special clothes during work. When plastic was found in the samples taken, they knew that this pollution was not from their team.
The news of the discovery of plastic in one of the most pristine places on the sea surface greatly upset the world scientific community. This is probably a problem that cannot be overcome. Plastic is everywhere - in food, in the air, in water and at home, as well as in the cleanest and most beautiful places on the planet.
10
People drink it
Thinking of water and plastic, we imagine sea water. It’s true, the seas are very polluted with plastic, but the problem is getting closer to our homes.
In 2017, researchers analyzed tap water in a dozen countries. 83% of the samples showed the presence of plastic particles. The United States had the highest rate, with 94% contamination of tap water there.
Grabbing the production of bottled purified water is also not an option. This water was also analyzed. They took 260 bottles of water from different countries - 90% of the pollution. And now it’s not clear how the plastic gets into purified water. Maybe from the clothes of the workers, from the fans or from the bottles themselves.
People still drink plastic, because so far there is no reliable filtration system that can catch the smallest particles that can even penetrate human cells.
Summary
In this article, we not only listed the facts about microplastics, but also tried to show the serious problem of pollution of our planet.
I'd like to receive feedback from you. Please write in the comments your thoughts on how important the problem is the pollution of the oceans with plastic, as well as what you see ways to solve it.