– What are micro plastics and how are they entering food / water?
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Plastics are generally polymers. This means that they are big chains/lattices of millions of little copies of the same little chemical structure.
While the bonds linking these structures together break down when out in the environment, the actual individual components often do not. This leads to plastics released into the environment fragmenting into little microscopic bits that get everywhere.
Some micro plastics are fibres fragments from fabrics made of synthetic fabrics (fleecey ones are the worst), the fibres are washed into the drains from washing machines where they end up in sewers, rivers and reservoirs or flushed into the oceans.
Others come from garbage as it degrades and fragments in the rivers and seas, the process being accelerated by sunlight and sea water.
Some are from waste from the plastic manufacturers, carelessly discharged.
Plastics are generally polymers. This means that they are big chains/lattices of millions of little copies of the same little chemical structure.
While the bonds linking these structures together break down when out in the environment, the actual individual components often do not. This leads to plastics released into the environment fragmenting into little microscopic bits that get everywhere.
Some micro plastics are fibres fragments from fabrics made of synthetic fabrics (fleecey ones are the worst), the fibres are washed into the drains from washing machines where they end up in sewers, rivers and reservoirs or flushed into the oceans.
Others come from garbage as it degrades and fragments in the rivers and seas, the process being accelerated by sunlight and sea water.
Some are from waste from the plastic manufacturers, carelessly discharged.
The ELIF is that plastics are to a certain extent indestructible.
If you grind a bit of steel with an angle grinder eventually the steel dust breaks down into iron oxide and some trace elements.
You do the same with plastic and instead of breaking down to constitute elements you just get smaller and smaller bits of the original material.
Plastics by and large don’t break down into the hydrogen and carbon that they are made of they just become smaller bits of plastic.
Once they become small enough, cell sized and smaller they just get everywhere, from inside cells themselves and into cell matrices.
Microplastics are pretty much like glitter
The ELIF is that plastics are to a certain extent indestructible.
If you grind a bit of steel with an angle grinder eventually the steel dust breaks down into iron oxide and some trace elements.
You do the same with plastic and instead of breaking down to constitute elements you just get smaller and smaller bits of the original material.
Plastics by and large don’t break down into the hydrogen and carbon that they are made of they just become smaller bits of plastic.
Once they become small enough, cell sized and smaller they just get everywhere, from inside cells themselves and into cell matrices.
Microplastics are pretty much like glitter
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