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Understanding Microplastics

Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters found in oceans that harm aquatic life. They come from larger plastics breaking down, microbeads added to products like cleansers passing through filters, and manufactured microbeads used in personal care products. Though their impacts are still being researched, microplastics pose a threat to ocean life. The US banned microbeads in 2015 through the Microbead-Free Waters Act, but microplastics remain a significant issue for oceans.

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José Câmara
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32 views2 pages

Understanding Microplastics

Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters found in oceans that harm aquatic life. They come from larger plastics breaking down, microbeads added to products like cleansers passing through filters, and manufactured microbeads used in personal care products. Though their impacts are still being researched, microplastics pose a threat to ocean life. The US banned microbeads in 2015 through the Microbead-Free Waters Act, but microplastics remain a significant issue for oceans.

Uploaded by

José Câmara
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What are microplastics?

Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five


millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and
aquatic life.
VIDEO: What are microplastics? Here's what you need to know in less than a minute.
Transcript

Plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our ocean and Great
Lakes. Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than
five millimeters in length (or about the size of a sesame seed) are called
“microplastics.”

Microbeads are tiny pieces of polyethylene plastic added to health and beauty
products, such as some cleansers and toothpastes.

As an emerging field of study, not a lot is known about microplastics and their
impacts yet. The NOAA Marine Debris Program is leading efforts within NOAA to
research this topic. Standardized field methods for collecting sediment, sand, and
surface-water microplastic samples have been developed and continue to undergo
testing. Eventually, field and laboratory protocols will allow for global comparisons
of the amount of microplastics released into the environment, which is the first step
in determining the final distribution, impacts, and fate of this debris.

Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris
that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces. In addition, microbeads, a type of
microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are
added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and
toothpastes. These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and
end up in the ocean and Great Lakes, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.

Microbeads are not a recent problem. According to the United Nations Environment
Programme, plastic microbeads first appeared in personal care products about fifty
years ago, with plastics increasingly replacing natural ingredients. As recently as
2012, this issue was still relatively unknown, with an abundance of products
containing plastic microbeads on the market and not a lot of awareness on the part
of consumers.

On December 28, 2015, President Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of
2015, banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products.

Video Transcript

Plastic is everywhere. A lot of it ends up in the ocean. Most plastics in the ocean
break up into very small particles. These small plastic bits are called "microplastics."
Other plastics are intentionally designed to be small. They're called microbeads and
are used in many health and beauty products. They pass unchanged through
waterways into the ocean. Aquatic life and birds can mistake microplastics for food.
Research is being conducted. But there's still much we don't know. In 2015, the U.S.
banned the use of microbeads. But microplastics are still a huge problem. You can
help keep plastic out of the ocean. Remember: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

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