Microplastics Are Everywhere, but What Do We Really Know About Their Effects?
Present in water, air and food, microplastics are a diffuse pollutant with growing consequences for the environment and human health.
Smaller than five millimetres, often invisible to the naked eye, and absolutely everywhere. Microplastics have been detected on mountain peaks, in deep-ocean trenches, in drinking water and food, and even in human blood.
Where do they come from?
They fall into two broad categories according to their origin.
Primary microplastics
These are released directly into the environment as small particles, including synthetic fibres shed when clothes are washed, particles from tyre wear and industrial pellets.
Secondary microplastics
These form when plastic waste such as bottles, packaging and fishing nets gradually fragments under the effects of sunlight, waves and time.
A plastic bag never truly disappears: it breaks into ever smaller pieces.
Uncertain risks, certain exposure
Scientists have documented microplastics in marine organisms and their movement through food chains. They are also investigating effects on human health: particles can carry pollutants and chemical additives, and the smallest can cross some biological barriers.
The precise scale of the risk remains uncertain, but exposure is already universal and increasing.
Turn off the tap
Filtering alone will never be enough. The only lasting strategy is to reduce plastic production and dispersal at source through less single-use plastic, better collection systems, alternative materials and microfibre filters on washing machines.
Every tonne of plastic avoided today means billions fewer fragments in future decades.
- Microplastics have been detected everywhere, including in human blood.
- Textile washing, tyres and fragmenting waste are major sources.
- No cleanup effort can replace reduction at source.