Answers To The Question: What Are Microplastics?
MICROPLASTICS – In this article we will learn what microplastics are, as well as their effects.
To be able to understand what microplastics are, we must first look at where it came from. Plastics are artificially made material or technically a synthetic compound.
Plastics are often made from crude oil, natural gas or coal. It is also non-biodegradable like compost.
This in turn would mean that plastics do not rot. As these things are often found on the ground or in the oceans.
Plastics take decades or even centuries to breakdown. But, even as they don’t break down completely.
Tiny microscopic particles called Microplastics are produced as plastics break down. This process is also accelerated due to external factors as well.
Plastics in both land and the ocean get broken down by heat, wind, and waves. This in turn also produces microplastics.
According to explainity on YouTube, these particles are between 5mm to 0.0001mm long. Likewise, there are also smaller plastics called nano-plastics.
Before plastics are even produced, you it requires the use of “primary micro plastics”. These serve as the building blocks to all plastic products.
Plastics are also used in cosmetic or house products as granules or in liquid form. With this, problems may arise.
Often times these primary micro plastics are used in the cleaning process in factories or used at home. Either in showering or washing clothes.
The micro plastics then get into the sewers. Because of this sewage treatment plants get millions of tons of microplastics globally.
Aside from this, the surface of the microplastics attract toxins and pathogens. From there, animals from both land and water confuse the plastics as their food.
Because of the food cycle, these animals end of on our plates. Afterwards, the pollutant rich particles then enter our bodies.
The topic of micro-plastics is a heavily debated topic. It involves plastic use, its alternatives and proper disposal of plastics.
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