what are microplastics?
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Exactly what the word sounds like: tiny pieces of plastic.
Many plastics do not break down chemically in the environment, at least not for a long time. They fall apart into smaller and smaller pieces, but those pieces remain the same plastic as the original object was, and can grow so small that they can float in the air and be breathed into your lungs, or end up being eaten and sticking in your stomach without you realizing. Some are even small enough to make it into the bloodstream.
The effects of these particles aren’t well-understood yet. But as many plastics do have chemical activity that can be harmful to living things (they’re similar in structure to biological molecules), and as small particles can be damaging in a purely non-chemical way (like asbestos fibers or dusty air pollution), there’s good reason for concern, especially since these particles are literally everywhere at this point.
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