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Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. [1] [2] Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. [3]
Scientists have studied the impact of plastic on the ecological environment for decades and have raised concerns about the health effects of some chemicals used in plastics.
Humans are exposed to toxic chemicals and microplastics at all stages in the plastics life cycle Microplastics effects on human health are of growing concern and an area of research. The tiny particles known as microplastics (MPs), have been found in various environmental and biological matrices, including air, water, food, and human tissues.
How bad is the world’s plastic problem? Few disagree that the level of pollution has reached alarming heights. Between 2000 and 2019, annual production of plastics doubled to 460 million tons.
[34] [35] Additives are therefore one of the reasons why plastic is used so widely. [36] Plastics are composed of chains of polymers. Many different chemicals are used as plastic additives. A randomly chosen plastic product generally contains around 20 additives. The identities and concentrations of additives are generally not listed on ...
In 2016 alone, the U.S. produced 42 million metric tons of plastic, equating to about 286 pounds per person, according to a paper published in Science Advances in 2020 -- nearly more than the ...
The microplastics are such a concern because it is difficult to clean them up due to their size, so humans can try to avoid using these harmful plastics by purchasing products that use environmentally safe exfoliates. Because plastic is so widely used across the planet, microplastics have become widespread in the marine environment.
In October, home chefs and foodies collectively freaked out when research was published that detected toxic flame retardants in black-colored plastic. The study, which was published in the journal ...