Microplastic

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SCHFETZ IRENE RUTH
9LF221, AN II, DPM
 What is a microplastic?
Microplastics are very small fragments that are less than 5mm in length.

These can be found in cosmetic products, clothing, food packaging and industrial processes.

There are 2 categories of microplastics:

• Primary
• Secondary
 Categories of microplastics
PRIMARY
Primary microplastics are small particles
found in commercial products like
cosmetics and microfibers lost from fabrics
like fishing nets and garments.
SECONDARY
Particles known as secondary microplastics
are produced when bigger plastic objects,
including water bottles, break down.
Exposure to external elements, primarily
solar radiation and ocean waves, is the
source of this breakdown.
Primary microplastics
As I mentioned before, they are used in cosmetics, as well as microfibers shed from clothing and
other textile. Other use for there microplastics such as an optional addition to goods like shower
gels and other cleaning agents used in cosmetics and toiletries.

They may also result from the erosion of tires when

driving or the abrasion of synthetic textiles while
washing, or from the abrasion of large plastic
objects during production, usage, or maintenance.
Secondary microplastics
When bigger plastic objects are exposed to a marine environment, they break down into tiny
plastic fragments, which is how secondary microplastics are created. This results from
inadvertent losses like fishing nets or from photodegradation and other weathering processes of
poorly managed garbage, like discarded plastic bags.

These kind of microplastics form from big chunks

of plastics, styrofoam, plastic bags and many more.
They usually end up in seas, woods, beaches due to
their use on those specific zones.
Microplastic sea pollution
This is a very serious issue due to mass productions of cosmetics, plastic bottle, cleaning agents
and many more. Fishing is a very good example for why the oceans and seas are so polluted.
Fishing nets use very hard plastics to catch fish and when they break, they float or even sink.
This causes the purity of the sea to degrade overtime.
 Conclusions
We presently permit about 8 million tones of plastic to enter our oceans annually, in case you
were unaware. Ocean wildlife is suffering greatly as a result of the plastic pollution that is
destroying marine ecosystems, acting as a vector for other pollutants, and posing a risk to human
health.
 Bibliography
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
◦ https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/microplastics/
◦ https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2017-002-En.pdf
◦ https://justoneocean.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAkp6tBhB5EiwANTCx1Kly8j34_N1gU8x_17
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