While researching plastic pollution I found this great article about micro-plastics in the oceans.
It discusses how waste that ends up in the ocean is often overlooked by society and how this mentality keeps people from understanding the consequences of marine pollution.
A huge contributor to this pollution is plastic waste. A particular type of plastic, however, is not widely recognised by the public; Micro-plastics are particles less than five millimetres in size that deteriorate from larger plastic pieces that have entered the oceans. The issue with them has recently come into light due to the use of plastic micro-beads in personal care products such as exfoliating shower gel, toothpaste, and makeup, which all wash down the drain.
These plastics have a massive effect on the infrastructure of marine life, and while there have been great efforts to clean up the oceans in the last few years, eradicating the trillions of tiny particles that have already entered the oceans will be the next big challenge in ocean conservation.
Tiny zooplankton like this one readily ingest micro-plastics in marine habitats. Credit: Matthew Cole, et al., courtesy of the journal “Environmental Science & Technology.”
References
Safina, Carl, and Jessica Perelman. “Pesky Plastic: The True Harm of Microplastics in the Oceans.” National Geographic (blogs). Last modified April 4, 2016. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/04/pesky-plastic-the-true-harm-of-microplastics-in-the-oceans/
synthetic nature 