Final Blog - Microplastic Pollution
I chose to read the article on National Geographic about how microplastics are raining down from the sky. This article covers how tiny pieces of plastic pollution are raining down from the sky in the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France. Scientists have recorded that a daily rate of 365 microplastic particles per square meter are falling from the sky. What microplastics exactly are is that they are very small pieces of plastic waste and their presence in oceans and waterways has been receiving a great deal of scientific media and attention in the recent years.
Researchers have collected microplastics over a five month period at a meteorological station about 4,500 ft above sea level using atmospheric deposition catchers that look like tall funnels. They counted and analyzed the plastic fragments, fibers, and films and counted that more than 50% of the microplastics found were less than 25 microns in size. To put that into perspective, the human hair averages between 50-70 microns in diameter and the smallest particle a human eye can see is about 40 microns.
From my perspective, this seems like a serious problem that has been gaining more and more awareness within the recent years, but it seems like not many people still know about it. The fact that microplastics are so small that the human eye is unable to seem them makes it so much more important to realize because we use and throw away various amounts of plastic in our society today, that plastic that starts as bottles, packaging, and so on starts to degrade over time into microplastics or much smaller nanoparticles. One study estimated that there are now 15 to 51 trillion microplastics floating on the surface of the oceans. There is also a large health impact of microplastics because what is known is that microplastics that are smaller than 25 microns can enter the human body through your nose or mouth, and those less than 5 microns can end up in your lung tissue.
Rather than these microplastics being just a concern for the Earth and nature, but it also seems to be a larger issue for us and our health.
In addition to microplastics, there is also a great deal of concern about the fine particles in the air that are formed by burning fossil fuels. These fine particles, such as black carbon and soot have been linked to a wider range of health problems from asthma and heart attacks, to impairing children's memory and IQ.
Overall, the pollution of microplastics is an increasingly dangerous and harmful part of plastic pollution that is gaining more and more awareness in the recent years, yet still not many people know about it. It can cause a wide range of health problems, ranging from asthma to impairing children's IQ. If we as a society don't collectively come to fully realize that the plastic bottles we are using and throwing away are in fact, creating a type of harmful pollution that we can't see, this large problem of microplastic pollution will hopefully get better. In addition to that, lessening the burning of fossil fuels that also forms harmful types of pollution, such as black carbon and soot, should be treated with the same awareness that microplastics are increasingly getting.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/
Researchers have collected microplastics over a five month period at a meteorological station about 4,500 ft above sea level using atmospheric deposition catchers that look like tall funnels. They counted and analyzed the plastic fragments, fibers, and films and counted that more than 50% of the microplastics found were less than 25 microns in size. To put that into perspective, the human hair averages between 50-70 microns in diameter and the smallest particle a human eye can see is about 40 microns.
From my perspective, this seems like a serious problem that has been gaining more and more awareness within the recent years, but it seems like not many people still know about it. The fact that microplastics are so small that the human eye is unable to seem them makes it so much more important to realize because we use and throw away various amounts of plastic in our society today, that plastic that starts as bottles, packaging, and so on starts to degrade over time into microplastics or much smaller nanoparticles. One study estimated that there are now 15 to 51 trillion microplastics floating on the surface of the oceans. There is also a large health impact of microplastics because what is known is that microplastics that are smaller than 25 microns can enter the human body through your nose or mouth, and those less than 5 microns can end up in your lung tissue.
Rather than these microplastics being just a concern for the Earth and nature, but it also seems to be a larger issue for us and our health.
In addition to microplastics, there is also a great deal of concern about the fine particles in the air that are formed by burning fossil fuels. These fine particles, such as black carbon and soot have been linked to a wider range of health problems from asthma and heart attacks, to impairing children's memory and IQ.
Overall, the pollution of microplastics is an increasingly dangerous and harmful part of plastic pollution that is gaining more and more awareness in the recent years, yet still not many people know about it. It can cause a wide range of health problems, ranging from asthma to impairing children's IQ. If we as a society don't collectively come to fully realize that the plastic bottles we are using and throwing away are in fact, creating a type of harmful pollution that we can't see, this large problem of microplastic pollution will hopefully get better. In addition to that, lessening the burning of fossil fuels that also forms harmful types of pollution, such as black carbon and soot, should be treated with the same awareness that microplastics are increasingly getting.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/
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