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Microplastics Are a Growing Problem We Can’t Afford to Ignore
Warnings about microplastics were initially dismissed as a vague threat, but now they’re in our bodies, and scientists are shocked by what they’re finding.
Plastic is everywhere — food packaging, textiles, drinking water. Over time, plastic sheds microscopic particles that have been found on the tippy tops of the highest mountains to the darkest-known depths in the Ocean.
These tiny microplastics are all over the environment, making it easy for us to ingest or inhale them, which allows them to become lodged throughout our bodies. While this instinctively sounds bad, it’s easy to dismiss the threat, especially since other things seem more important or immediate than the threat of microplastics. But now it’s time to pay attention.
Omnipresent Microplastics and Humans
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), microplastics are teeny-tiny pieces of plastic debris about the size of a grain of rice or measuring less than 0.2 inches (5 mm). Besides being everywhere, the issue with microplastics is that they can take centuries to break down.
