With the rapid development of the times science and technology,
A large number of convenient and fast daily necessities entered the mall.
Disposable items emerged in the second half of the 20th century, and disposable paper cups, plastic mixing sticks, and disposable party dinner plates seem to "improve" people's quality of life.
But then came:
Global plastic products from the 1950s 150 million metric tons,
Climbed to 200 million metric tons in 2002,
Today, it has reached 300 million metric tons per year.
Five Circulation Research Center for Marine Plastic Pollution (5 Gyres)
Co-founder Marcus Eriksen said:
"Garbage islands appear frequently at sea,
It shows that a lot of plastic waste ended up running into the sea.
These garbage islands are the microplastics of the world's oceans. ”
The Invisible Killer of the Marine Environment: Microplastics – BBC Knowledge
What is "microplastics"?
They are tiny pieces of plastic flowing into the oceans, from discards.
If you take a boat to the ocean, you will see: bottles and cans, toy dolls, balls of deodorant, thousands of plastic slippers, all floating on the sea.
Ocean currents crush plastic into tiny particles that can't be seen from the ship, but are easily mistaken for food by marine life.
According to a new study published by Erikson in December 2014:
At least five mega tablets (50,0000,0000) of plastic float near the surface of the sea, with a total weight of more than 268,000 metric tons, of which up to 92% are microplastics.
Many plastics initially floated on the surface of the sea, but soon became involved with various sticky substances and eventually sank to the bottom of the sea.
What are humans going to do with this garbage?
The garbage in Ballona Creek in Los Angeles has soared, and there is also plastic garbage.
A display made of marine garbage
The Ocean Cleanup tried to collect larger pieces of plastic on a floating platform, but found that it was impossible to process the microplastics.
According to Erikson, we can only give up the plastic waste that has sunk.
"Sink when they sink, bury when they are buried, and you can only let them become fossils." "We don't have any effective way to clear the five-kilometer-deep seabed," he said. ”
Clusters of microplastics swirling around the sea can be problematic because marine life can easily swallow these debris, and plastic-stained contaminants and bacteria threaten organisms.
Plastic waste accelerates the entry of toxic substances into the food chain.
Diverse plastics are difficult to classify
In May 2014, chemist Alexandra ter Halle joined the 7th Continent Expedition on a trip to the North Atlantic.
After two days at sea, the ship was surrounded by thousands of small pieces of plastic.
Tehal collected samples and returned to the University of Toulouse III in France to begin analyzing the sticky substances, trying to analyze why plastics adsorb pollutants over time.
"The difficulty is that there are too many kinds of plastics, different colors, shapes and compositions, and it is difficult to sort out the veins from these diverse plastics." She said.
Sanya is contaminated with plastic waste
Once the plastic becomes a microparticle, whether it is a fragment of large plastic split or a deliberately made plastic bead, they have the potential to attract and absorb some persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants in the seawater, such as persistent organic pollutants.
National studies
Swedish studies reported abnormal behavior in sea bass fry after feeding on plastic particles. Abnormal behaviors include poor hatching rates and sensory abilities, and experimenters have also put chemicals from their natural enemies into fry and found that seabasses do not have evasive behavior.
A 2014 belgian study found that an average of 0.3 plastic particles per kilogram of purple clams in contaminated aquatic products, and 0.47 cultured oysters, with 11,000 plastic particles per year if there are groups that prefer to eat aquatic products.
Seafood cuisine in the Mediterranean region is well known, but the Spanish Institute of Oceanography recently surveyed several common species in the market, including dog sharks, manned cod, sheep fish, etc., and 37 of the 212 fish contain microplastics.
Coincidentally, Japan's Kyushu University and Tokyo Ocean University also found microplastics in plankton samples collected in Antarctica.
These microplastics, which are less than 5 centimeters, easily absorb harmful substances in the environment and may have a negative impact on fish and birds that swallow it.
One study estimated that consumers of European shellfish (mussels and oysters) were likely to eat between 1,800 and 11,000 (the largest number of feeding populations) of microplastic particles per year, based on measured concentrations and presumptive daily intakes.
You can eat vegetarian, not plastic
We can choose to be vegetarian,
But one day, these will appear on our table,
Is it okay to clear the fish belly? These microplastics are not only present in fish maws!
Responses by countries
Since the United States passed the Juju-free Waters Act in 2015, it will be complete within 3 years
It is forbidden to sell and use
Canada directly included plastic particles in the list of toxic substances, has been
Completely prohibited
Used by the operator.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea announced that it will start in July 2018
Total ban on sale
Cosmetics containing microplastics.
l In August 2016, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the draft "Restriction on the Manufacture, Import and Sale of Cosmetics and Personal Cleaning Products (Including Toothpaste) Containing Plastic Particles", which prohibits the manufacture and import of cosmetics and personal cleaning products containing plastic particles from July 1, 2018, and completely bans the sale of cosmetics and personal cleaning products containing plastic particles from 1 January 2020.
According to the Definition of the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), microplastics refer to plastic fragments smaller than 0.5 centimeters (5 mm).
According to a scientific paper in the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):
plastic particles that pollute the oceans,
The highest content is in the North Pacific.
Contaminants are mainly plastic particles with a diameter of 1-5 mm,
The proportion of particles with a diameter of 2 mm in size is the highest.
Did you know that cosmetics and personal cleaning products contain microplastics?
In cosmetics, not only foundation, makeup, and mascara are used
9 micron (0.009 mm) and 100 nm (0.00001 mm) plastic particles,
And the products that use the most microparticles,
is toothpaste and tooth powder,
However, tooth powder mostly uses "silicon powder" instead of plastic particles.
Commercially available cleaning products, nearly 40% contain plastic particles, so that you can't prevent it!
More detailed search can be found on Tencent Video: The Story of Plastic Particles
Do you buy body wash or plastic particles?
In August 2015, a Taiwanese NGO began a survey of 468 common personal cleaning products on the market and found that a total of 196 products contained plastic particles, accounting for 42%.
If consumers prioritize products that advertise deep cleaning and exfoliation, the odds increase to nearly 60%.
Well-known brands such as Jiaosheng (Johnson & Johnson), Edida, MUJI, Corinth, 3M, Vichy, etc. have been detected to contain plastic particles, which have been confirmed by environmental groups as harmful products containing plastic particles and harming the ocean.
(Photo: Photo by Pan Ziqi)
Bottles, cans and cans of cleaning products are like a bargain price for a drugstore, but nearly 40% of them contain plastic particles.
Plastic particles are known as "soft beads" in cleaning products, thereby claiming to have exfoliating, deep cleansing functions. Not only bath products, foundations, lipsticks, mascara, powders, lip balms... All have plastic particles!!!
Researcher Sun Weizi said that 98% of plastic particles are made of polyethylene (PE).
There have been many studies that confirm that PE can adsorb harmful substances in the environment including DDT, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fluorine-containing compounds and so on;
In addition, the plastic particles are between 10um and 1mm in diameter, which are easily eaten by plankton and fish fry into the food chain, and eventually humans will eat plastics and toxic substances.
In addition to PE, plastic particles are also composed of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, acrylic raw material), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or nylon (Nylon).
A large jar of Jiaosheng (Johnson & Johnson) body wash can also extract a large jar of plastic particles, and people can't help but wonder whether to buy a shower gel or plastic particles? Plastic juju will continue to pollute the oceans and threaten marine life and our food safety.
▶ By 2025, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish!
How can individuals support environmental protection with consumption?
Products that are not used up but contain plastic particles should be directly extruded and discarded in garbage bags, and the plastic bottle body should be recycled, so that the plastic particles should be treated according to the pipeline of general household waste to avoid the plastic particles flowing into the ocean.
Plastic soft beads are unnecessary and harmful to the environment, brands should promise to ban, and governments should legislate to completely stop production and ban sales
Soft beads are really unnecessary, the purpose of adding is to sell more, as well as to increase the texture, but increase the difficulty of sewage treatment, consumers should refuse to buy
Return to minimalist aesthetics, learn about skincare, and return to your skin's defensive instincts
Some of the content is taken from Greenpeace and BBC International
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