...eating about 250 grams of plastic a year. Put another way, it’s like consuming 5 grams of plastic a week — the equivalent of munching through a credit card.
When researchers from Johns Hopkins looked at the impact of eating seafood contaminated with microplastics, they found the accumulated plastic could damage the immune system and upset a gut's balance.
Polyester fibers from polar fleece fabrics can wind up in your stomach.
Plastic trash is littering the land and fouling rivers and oceans. But what we can see is only a small fraction of what's out there. Since modern plastic was first mass-produced, 8 billion tons have been manufactured. And when it's thrown away, it doesn't just disappear. Much of it crumbles into small pieces.
“We want 100 percent recyclable plastics by 2030, because the ocean between the continents is currently full of plastic,” he said. “If you look at the Atlantic Ocean, there is already the equivalent of the French territory of plastic. So unless we deal with it, unless we also prevent additional production of plastic, we will foster a tragedy, an environmental tragedy.”
If plastic had been invented when the Pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England, to North America—and the Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks—their plastic trash would likely still be around, four centuries later.
It is estimated that there are more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world's oceans, with 8 million tonnes ending up there every year. This plastic can get broken down into smaller pieces and eaten by marine animals that mistake them for food.
In recent months, in fact, thousands of tons of material left curbside for recycling in dozens of U.S. cities and towns — including several in Oregon — have gone to landfills.
The European Commission wants to ban 10 items that make up 70% of all litter in EU waters and on beaches. The list also includes plastic plates and drink stirrers.
