This week in Paris, negotiators from around the world are convening for a United Nations meeting. They will tackle a thorny problem: finding a globally binding solution for plastic recycling and plastic pollution. Of the staggering 460 million tonnes of plastic used globally in 2019 alone, much is used only once and thrown away. About ...
It is hard to believe that we have to talk about the plastic waste that is still going into the world’s oceans. Researchers from the University of California have found that more than 4.8 million metric tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans each year. A metric ton is equivalent to 1,000 kilograms, or 2,205 ...
It’s estimated that an average-sized wastewater treatment plant serving roughly 400,000 residents will discharge up to 2,000,000 microplastic particles into the environment each day. Yet, researchers are still learning the environmental and human health impact of these ultra-fine microplastics, less than 5 millimeters in length, found in everything from cosmetics, toothpaste and clothing microfibers, to our food, air, ...
Microplastics (MPs), i.e., tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in length, can now be found throughout the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems, and even in our seafood and salt. As MPs have become ubiquitous, scientists have become concerned about the transfer of MPs from the environment to the food chain and the potential impact ...
Plastic is a kind of widely used artificial material. The invention of plastic gave us a lightweight, strong, and inexpensive material to use, but it also brought us the plastic apocalypse. Much of the unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth’s last sink. Broken by waves, sunlight, and marine animals, a single plastic ...
Nothing seems safe from plastic contamination. A new study by NSF-funded researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests there could be a million times more microplastics in the ocean than previously estimated. Biological oceanographer Jennifer Brandon found some of the tiniest microplastics in seawater at much higher concentrations than previously measured. Her method showed ...
Trash flowing into rivers and ultimately into oceans is one of the biggest causes of environmental pollution. Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based environmental organization, has introduced a unique solution to the problem — a trash-eating boat called the “Interceptor” that automatically cleans up all waste flowing in the water. According to estimates, there could be more ...
Tiny threads of microplastics are showing up in Pacific oysters and razor clams along the Oregon coast — and the yoga pants, fleece jackets, and sweat-wicking clothing that Pacific Northwesterners love to wear are a source of that pollution, according to a new Portland State University study. Britta Baechler, a Ph.D. student in PSU’s Earth, ...
A new study on the pollution from plastic bottles prevalent in the Atlantic Ocean has found that Chinese merchant ships are the number one source of the problem. The researchers traveled to Inaccessible Island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, and discovered that 73 percent of the plastic bottles that had washed up in the ...
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