Microplastics

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic. Some microplastics originate from larger pieces of plastic that gradually break down, while other microplastics are intentionally manufactured. They retain many of the properties of traditional forms of plastic and do not fully break down over time.

Individuals and corporations often improperly dispose of plastics and microplastics, leading to the eventual introduction of microplastics into waterways. This can cause systemic damage to ecosystems by poisoning animals. Microplastics also can be toxic to people.

Many traditional water filtration plants struggle to remove microplastics. For this reason, researchers have sought to develop new filters that may have a greater effect on microplastics. Many governments have banned the production or sale of cosmetics or health-and-beauty items that contain microplastic beads, commonly called microbeads.

Background

Plastics are composed of chains of specifically connected molecules. The chains of molecules are called polymers. Polymers can be made up of numerous combinations of chemicals. These include hydrogen, carbon, sulfur, oxygen, silicon, phosphorous, and fluorine.

Plastics are extremely versatile materials. They can be heated, molded, cast, and shaped in numerous ways. For this reason, plastic materials can be created in virtually any shape and thickness. Compared to metal, plastic is extremely light. Certain plastics are also very strong at room temperature.

Plastics are used in numerous aspects of the construction industry. Construction-grade plastics are extremely light, strong, and resistant to corrosion. Plastics are used in electronics, specifically in the manufacturing of computer chips and components, and in packaging materials and automotive parts.

Microplastic pellets are utilized in numerous industries. To create plastic parts, premanufactured microplastic pellets are sometimes poured into specially manufactured molds. The molds are then heated, which melts the microplastic pellets into the specified shapes. This allows manufacturers to create complex plastic shapes in consistent quality.

Microplastic pellets also are used in abrasive cleaning. During this process, the surface of a dirty or corroded object is struck with countless pellets moving at an incredibly high rate of speed. The resulting numerous, tiny impacts dislodge surface debris, which cleans the object. The process is extremely similar to sandblasting, except that plastic is utilized instead of sand.

Another form of microplastics, often called microbeads, are tiny plastic spheres that are commonly utilized in the healthy-and-beauty industry. They are included in various products, such as facial scrubs, body scrubs, and toothpaste, for their abrasive properties. This mild abrasion functions as an exfoliator, removing surface layers of dirt.

Impact

Materials that are biodegradable break down over time, eventually decomposing into natural elements that do little to no harm to the environment. Bacteria are largely responsible for this process, called biodegradation. Most plastics, however, are not biodegradable. Bacteria have a difficult time trying to break down plastics because of the specific chemical bonds that are common in plastic. Thus, plastic remain in the environment for a long time.

Many plastics that are thrown away are gradually reduced to smaller forms by various external forces. For example, plastics dumped into the ocean may be worn away by sand, collisions with other objects, and the constant motion of waves. When plastic is reduced to pieces smaller than five millimeters in its longest dimension, it is considered microplastic.

Other types of microplastics are intentionally manufactured in that size. These plastics usually take the form of small pellets. They are created for numerous industrial purposes. These pellets sometimes make their way into waterways, often because of improper disposal practices.

Microplastics began to garner significant attention from activists and the media in the 2010s. Environmental researchers and scientists discovered that the release of microplastics into environments, especially aquatic environments, causes persistent negative effects on those environments. Microplastics released into a natural environment are considered pollutants. Pollutants are unnatural substances released into a natural environment that result in harm to that environment.

When microplastic particles are released into the ocean, toxic chemicals sometimes bind to them. This allows the toxic chemicals to remain in the water longer than they normally would, thereby compounding the water pollution caused by the microplastic itself. In addition to prolonging the existence of toxic chemicals, microplastics can be ingested by animals. This may cause persistent negative effects on the animals' health, including a significantly shortened life span. In addition, microplastics may cause animals to behave abnormally by causing fluctuations in their hormone levels.

Some environmental researchers and scientists worry that microplastics will spread throughout the food chain. Microplastics are often consumed by animals low on the food chain, and this can cause a buildup of microplastics or associated chemicals in animals higher on the food chain, through the process known as bioaccumulation.

In many cases, microplastics are not removed from water by filters used in traditional water treatment facilities. Microplastic particles are so small that they often pass through the holes in the filters. However, a significant portion of detected microplastics are removed during some water filtration plants' degreasing stage. Some experts theorize that the adoption of sand filters could drastically increase the amount of microplastics removed from water in water filtration plants.

Multiple governments have decided to use legislation to cut down on the amount of microplastics introduced into the environment. In most cases, these governments have focused on limiting the ways in which microplastics can be used in consumer goods. By reducing the amount of microplastics produced, they hope to reduce the amount of microplastics that eventually make their way into water sources. In 2015, the United States passed the Microbead-Free Waters Act. The act banned the manufacturing of cosmetics and other health-and-beauty items containing plastic microbeads from July 1, 2017, and the sale of such items from January 1, 2018. Soon afterward, the United Kingdom and numerous other nations passed similar laws.

Despite such efforts, however, scientists continued to raise concerns about microplastic pollution into the 2020s. Researchers increasingly reported evidence that microplastics could be found in every ecosystem on the planet, including extremely remote locations such as deep ocean trenches and isolated mountain peaks. Many experts suggested that plastic pollution in general was so widespread that it was having profound impacts on natural systems.

Bibliography

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