What are MICROPLA ASTICS?
Take a closer look at these miniscule pollutants and how they affect all life
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
Plastics are made from materials such as oil and plant minerals found naturally on Earth, but the end product itself is entirely unnatural. This synthetic product can now be found in every corner of the world, in remote places like the deep ocean and Antarctica, and even inside our bodies. This is because plastic doesn’t fully decompose.
Every piece of plastic produced still exists in some form, even if it’s out of sight. In most instances, plastic products have been broken down into microplastics, tiny fragments that have been reduced to a length of five millimetres or less,
too small to see with the naked eye. The first evidence of microplastic pollution was discovered in the oceans, where scientists have estimated that there are 24.4 trillion microplastic particles in the upper oceans alone.