Microplastic

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.Coastal Animals Are Thriving on Plastic Pollution Out in the Pacific Ocean | Extreme EarthLast month, Democratic New York City Council Member James Gennaro introduced a bill that would change the way countless New Yorkers do their laundry — by banning laundry detergent pods.More specifically, the bill — dubbed “Pods Are Plastic” — proposed a ban on dishwashing and laundry detergent pods coated in polyvinyl alcohol, or PVA, a type of…

As scientists urgently call for studies on the potential health effects of microplastics that make their way into our bodies, we still don't have any easy and effective way of detecting and identifying the smallest of these polluting particles.So Columbia University environmental chemist Naixin Qian and her colleagues have developed a new imaging technique to expose the insidious petrochemical fragments for all to see."People developed methods to see nanoparticles, but they didn't know what they were looking at," says…

Not even the Arctic Ocean is immune to the incessant growth of microplastic pollution. In a new study that analyzed sediment core samples, researchers quantified how many of the particles have been deposited since the early 1930s. As scientists have shown elsewhere, the team found that microplastic contamination in the Arctic has been growing exponentially and in lockstep with the growth of plastic production—which is now up to a trillion pounds a year, with the global amount of plastic waste projected to triple by…

A new study reveals that cutting boards made of wood or plastic may generate millions of microparticles a year when used for food preparation, with wooden boards shedding more microparticles than plastic ones.Cutting boards are practical tools commonly seen in the majority of households and restaurant kitchens. Yet, according to a study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, these boards are an overlooked source of microparticles. The study discovered that chopping carrots on wooden and plastic boards…

Microplastic samples collected from the oceans. Plastic fragments less than 5 mm in length are categorized as microplastics. The scale bar shows a length of 2000 µm or 2 mm. Credit: Kyushu University/Asahi Kasei CorporationA novel approach has been devised by researchers to determine the age of microplastics in the ocean. Their findings reveal that offshore microplastics can range from 1 to 3 years old, whereas nearshore microplastics can range from 0 to 5 years old.A new technique for determining the age of microplastics…

Diplomats from 175 countries gathering in Paris for plastics treaty talks on Monday may want to pack an umbrella, but not just because there's a chance of rain.France's capital will also be showered during the five-day talks by billions of microplastic particles falling from the sky, according to the first-ever plastics pollution weather forecast.The predicted downpour will range between 40 and 48 kilograms (88 and 106 pounds) of free-floating plastic bits blanketing greater Paris every 24 hours, the scientists involved…

Microplastic samples collected from the North Atlantic during the eXXpedition Round the World voyage. Credit: Sophie Dingwall The waters of the North Atlantic gyre contain significantly greater quantities of plastic—composed of polymers arising from packaging, rope, and paint particles—than other areas of the open ocean, according to new research. …

Accumulation of waste on the shore of the La Virgen marsh in Cartagena, Colombia. Credit: University of Barcelona Globally, the coastal lagoons of Lagos (Nigeria), Sakumo (Ghana) and Bizerte (Tunisia)—close to large urban centers and without waste and sewage treatment systems—are among the water ecosystems most affected by microplastic pollution. However, the highest concentrations of microplastics have been detected in Barnes…

We know that marine animals of all sizes are inadvertently consuming plastics as they move through the ocean, but what does this diet look like for the largest of them all? To answer this question, scientists at Stanford University have analyzed the foraging habits of whales off the coast of California and found that blue whales take in an estimated 10 million pieces of plastic each day.The study is a continuation of field research carried out by biologists and ocean scientists at Stanford that amounts to more than a…

Microplastics are a growing environmental problem, but a new study could help cut out a decent chunk of them. The authors showed that silk could be a biodegradable replacement for microbeads and plastic particles that are often added to cosmetics, paints and other products.Studies continually show that there are few places on Earth untouched by microplastic pollution. These tiny fragments have been detected in oceans, rivers, farmland, ice and snow from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and from the top of Mount Everest to the…