Plastics play a crucial part of human life today. Microplastics are found almost everywhere. What are microplastics? Plastics that are smaller than about 5mm are called microplastics. Large plastic pieces that wind up in animals’ stomachs and litter shorelines, become the microplastics of the future.
How do microplastics affect our health? Living organisms are exposed to microplastics through air, water and food. Ways that microplastics can come into the environment are through degradation of big pieces of plastic, cosmetics, and from synthetic clothing. Studies say that microplastics are even found in nylon tea bags. Microplastics could pass through our bodies or break down before causing any danger. Under other conditions, a high concentration might cause severe health conditions. Studies on microplastics have just begun, so the effects of it aren’t fully discovered yet. However we shouldn’t wait till it shows damage to our lives, therefore it is very important for us to find effective ways to reduce the production of plastic waste.
How is our environment affected? Microplastics are mistaken by marine animals because of its colorful nature. Toxic pollutants are found in the ocean which are intaken by marine animals, especially smaller organisms such as lungworms and zooplanktons. Intake of these microplastics can cause blockage in digestion and internal damage which can lead to death of these animals. Microplastics can be transferred when other animals consume these small organisms through trophic transfer.
What are some ways to deal with these issues? Reducing plastic use including single-use products in our daily lives will make a huge difference to our environment. Reducing the amount of packaged food and purchasing fresh produce, reusing containers, and recycling properly are just some ways that our environment could be safe. What other ways can you think of that reduce the problems caused by microplastics? How dangerous do you think that our environment could become in the future due to microplastics?
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25 comments:
Connecting to your input about cosmetic waste turning into microplastics, I recently became aware of how much plastic is involved in the packaging and shipping of cosmetic products myself. I watched a video a few months ago where people tried to use no-waste cosmetics for a week, and it is astounding how many products cosmetic-wearers use that have unnecessarily large amounts of plastic. Beyond that, the amount of plastic bags (like sandwich bags or freezer bags) that people use every single day is insane. I highly recommend reusable bags. My mom bought some silicone-like ziplock bags for lunches (etc.), and now we rarely use plastic, disposable bags.
Interesting topic Delphine! Plastic use has been very apparent in today's society. We can reduce problems caused by microplastics by minimizing our use of plastic and reusing certain things that are not damaged. It is very dangerous for microplastics to get around because it harms wildlife and could potentially decrease keystone species which would ultimately affect whole communities.
It’s important to understand the consequences of our actions. Balloons, for example, harm marine life when they fall into the ocean. We need to reduce our use of plastics in order to prevent these negative consequences. Your article does a good job of explaining the risk of using single use plastics. By shifting to biodegradable plastics, we can prevent the impact on marine life.
This blog was so informative Delphine! I never knew cosmetic waste turns into microplastic found in the ocean. We need to find more ways to reduce plastic waste to protect wildlife. If not by cutting down our use of plastic, then at least by reusing the plastic until it cannot be used again. This way we can protect the animal species that think colorful plastic is food.
Before reading this blog, I did not know the repercussions of microplastics on marine life or even that they exsisted. It is pertinent that we find how much damage these microplastics will cause humans. We already know some of the repercussions it has on marine life, and it is time that we reduce the amount of damage applied to that ecosystem. By finding out how damaging microplastics are, we will be able to find effective solutions to the amount produced. Reducing plastics in the ocean in general is highly important for marine life. I believe that our future will have many health issues if we don’t understand the reprecussions of ingesting microplastics.
This is very interesting because I never realized the dangers of microplastics. I’ve only heard about big plastic waste such as straws, bags, and things like that. I think we should definitely try to reduce our use of plastic items overall, especially disposable plastic such as bags and straws. People throw out these things so frequently that it doesn’t surprise me that some of it ends up in the ocean. We need to do something to reduce our plastic waste and turn to better alternatives. I’ve heard of a company that is making grocery bags that dissolve in water. Now that’s a good first step.
In elementary school, we learned the three R's - reduce, reuse, recycle - and their importance. While we have constantly been told that the increase of our plastic usage is dangerous, I was unaware of the specific term "microplastics". I was also surprised to learn from your article that these microplastics aren't only created from items like plastic bottles or bags. The fact that synthetic clothing and cosmetics also distribute these plastics is WILD. I wonder if there is a way to produce clothing and makeup, as well as other microplastic disposing items, in a way that reduces or exterminates the distribution of microplastics.
Wow, this blog is very interesting because I didn’t really know what microplastics were. I also didn’t really know how dangerous they were either. When we were little we were taught to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but lately, I don’t think us humans have been living up to those standards. Instead, we are wasting plastic such as cosmetic bags, balloons, and plastic straws which end up in various ecosystems such as our precious oceans. We must be more aware of what we are using and throwing away, so we can help take care of animals and the environment.
I had no idea that there was such a thing called micro plastics. These things must be way more harmful than an original item of plastic because they are smaller and can get into organisms easier. I need to be more aware of where I throw away my trash because I can help save the environment by reusing items. Having a sit down with my family and discussing ideas of how we can reuse more items will help the environment dramatically and will make ourselves feel like better people.
This is a great post! I actually never really knew what made something classified as a microplastic but now I know. To help solve the problem of harm to marine life due to microplastics, we should definitely stop using one time use plastic supplies. Also, advocating for legislation concerning the use and disposal of plastics could help improve conditions of marine life.
Plastic is one of the most abundant resources we use in today’s world, but many people do not realize the underlying problems that can arise from using the amount we do. Microplastics are especially dangerous because they’re so tiny and can spread very easily into things we don’t want them to. This blog highlights these issues and ways we can reduce our plastic use into a more sustainable lifestyle.
I think it would be a good idea to eliminate one time use plastics. If we were to reuse plastics more, this would greatly decrease the amount of microplastics in our water systems. Also I think that spreading more awareness of microplastics could help solve this issue.
The problem that is micro-plastic could be erased if we were to recycle properly. I believe if we could bring awareness through the internet (like your blog), it would minimize the problem significantly. We can also be more mindful to not purchase as much packaged food as normal. Finding alternative sources of food will require more research but if you are willing to save the planet you should!
It’s crazy how we use plastic on the daily, and plastic is the most dangerous to ecosystems and species. This article was so interesting because it talked about MICRO plastics which i thought would be less dangerous than bigger pieces because there smaller and have less impact. I was wrong.
It’s scary to me how plastic never truly breaks down. I think if we brought more awareness on this issue Microplastics could be greatly eliminated. For me personally, I use a reusable water bottle for school and I use a reusable Starbucks cup when I get coffee. I also use a reusable straw when I make smoothies in the morning. It doesn’t take much to help reduce the amount of plastic you put out into the environment.
This is definitely a problem that should be addressed due to the high amounts of plastic that people use and the effects it has on wildlife. While it might be easy to campaign this issue through social media, we have to account for the fact that there are countries where people don’t have access to the internet. For example, developing countries might not be aware of these detrimental effects that microplastics cause.
I had no idea the actual effect of plastics. The amount of plastic we put into the world is absolutely astounding and I feel like that could really be changed with increased awareness. Everyone in the world could lower the level of plastic they throw away with the simple way of reusing cups and straws.
A very interesting article! The unforeseen issue of such a heavy reliance on consumer plastic is that it never really goes away, it is creating a new type of debris on the planet earth. Just as quarts and sandstone rock broke down thousands of years ago to make sandy beaches, now the item that is breaking down is plastic which is creating “plastic sand”. I have also seen articles where Microplastics ends up up in rain, which pollutes everything that it falls on. The scary truth is that plastic now is involved in every natural process, mostly for worse.
This clearly highlights the dangers of plastic and especially micro plastic. It is so tiny and can cause so much damage because it can be spread so easily. I love that this passage was so informative!
I previously knew about microplastics but i didn't realize the extent of how many there were. I never thought about the transfer of the plastic from organism to organism and how it can affect multiple things in one like a double whammy in the marine environment for fish that ingest fish that have ingested microplastics. It's wild to think that microplastics are found in everyday objects like makeup and how we contribute to the production of these by continuing the use of the items.
While I was already previously informed on the negative impacts of plastic on our environment, micro-plastics are a topic that I was completely in the dark about. It makes sense, however, that such small microscopic plastic could be a parasitic to marine life considering the rapidness with which it can spread.
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