Activity 3.3.3

Plastic Waste

Microplastics are plastic that are extremely small, often smaller than 5 millimeters in size. Sarah Dudas describes them to be close to the " size of a grain of rice." They tend to come from a variety of sources that we use every day but think much about it. From larger items such as bottles, plastic bags, plastic cups, plates etc.... To even the smallest products you wouldn't even think about such as exfoliation products and toothpaste. Microplastic has become a major issue on a global level, due to how often they are used, thrown away without a thought, as well as improperly disposed of leading to significant harm on an environmental level. Various habitats and the animals that live within them suffer great losses due to microplastics. Animals often mistake micro plastics as food and either die from the ingesting plastic or end up being strangled by it. Dudas in more detail described that " as animals eat those plastics, it can have negative effects on them... physical impacts, blockages, abrasions. Or chemical impacts... chemicals leaching out...chemicals in the environment contaminates sticking to the plastic..." While this happens to out wildlife is then trickles down to us as well, humans too are at risk from microplastic. Toxins and chemical have been found within microplastics that can be absorbed by our bodies that can cause major health issues. Dudas states " decrease in growth and reproduction..."

Microplastic come in two primary categories, which are primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are small in size which are designed that way to meet needs of certain products. Products like cosmetics and personal care products; facial scrubs, toothpaste, body washes, and various exfoliating products. Due their size primary microplastics cannot be filtered in wastewater treatment plants, so they end up in the river or oceans. Thus, these primary microplastics are then ingested, which leads another set of issues. Plastic pellets or nurdles is another example of primary microplastics. They're small round plastic in a pellet form, a raw form of plastic before it used to manufacture other plastic products. Synthetic fibers, often associated with clothing materials, is another common primary microplastic. Other examples of primary microplastics, also can include plastic films and industrial abrasives.

Secondary microplastics are known to be the broken downs pieces that came from larger plastic products. Unlike primary microplastics that are designed to be small, secondary comes from degraded large plastic materials from environmental wear and tear. Environmental degradation is not the only thing that create secondary microplastics. Mechanical, chemical, and fragmentation are all factors that create secondary microplastics.

Dudas, S. (2018). Microplastics are everywhere [Video]. TEDx Binghampton University.