Who's to Blame for Plastic Microfiber Pollution?
4 years, 6 months ago

Who's to Blame for Plastic Microfiber Pollution?

Wired  

Earlier this month, researchers reported a startling discovery: In 11 national parks and protected areas in the western US, 1,000 metric tons of microfibers and microplastic particles fall from the sky each year, equivalent to over 120 million plastic water bottles—and that’s in just 6 percent of the country’s land area. Its ubiquity has coincided with the rise of fast fashion—cheap synthetic clothes that during each wash shed perhaps 100,000 microfibers, which then flow out to rivers and oceans through wastewater. “Nearly 13,000 tons of microfibers may be entering the marine environment just from Europe's countries alone,” says Nicholas Mallos, senior director of the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program. Even given this filtration, a city the size of Toronto could still be emitting hundreds of billions of microfibers each year, according to one study from 2018 by researchers at the University of Toronto.

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History of this topic

Plastic production to hit 1.1 billion tons by 2050: Study raises alarm on health risks from microplastics
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Plastic production to hit 1.1 billion tons by 2050: Study raises alarm on health risks from microplastics

Hindustan Times  

Tiny plastic particles may be lurking in the air we breathe, and experts are raising alarms about their potential health risks. Rising plastic pollution and its health risks After analysing 3,000 studies, researchers from UC San Francisco suspect that microplastics may negatively impact reproductive, digestive, and respiratory health, possibly linking them to colon and lung cancer. "Microplastics are essentially particulate …

Forever and ever?: A timeline of how microplastics got everywhere
2 weeks, 6 days ago

Forever and ever?: A timeline of how microplastics got everywhere

Hindustan Times  

1907: In Belgium, an inventive chemist named Leo Baekeland combines the fossil-fuel derivatives phenol and formaldehyde to produce a hard, mouldable substance that will change the course of manufacturing. EEA estimates, at the time, that 2 lakh to 5 lakh tonnes of microplastics from textiles are entering the global marine environment each year. 2019: A study published in the journal …

Paying with plastic: How microplastics are changing our world
2 weeks, 6 days ago

Paying with plastic: How microplastics are changing our world

Hindustan Times  

There are microplastics in our sugar and salt. They were first categorised as a pollutant 20 years ago, by marine biologist Richard Thompson, who noticed such fragments in the debris washing up on the shores of the remote Isle of Man.. “There were bits that were too small to see, but it was pretty obvious that the big bits were …

Millions of tons of plastic foul the world around us
1 month, 1 week ago

Millions of tons of plastic foul the world around us

Associated Press  

On a Philippines beach, barefoot children jumped and played on shoals of plastic washed ashore in previous typhoons. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print People store various waste materials in plastic sacks for sorting out in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn …

India suggests funding proposal for plastic phase-out
1 month, 2 weeks ago

India suggests funding proposal for plastic phase-out

Hindustan Times  

India has circulated a proposal for the financial arrangement to implement a global legally binding instrument on phasing out plastic pollution, currently being negotiated in South Korea’s Busan where the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment is being held. India’s proposal suggests that parties …

Can the World Unite to End the Plastic Pollution Crisis?
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Can the World Unite to End the Plastic Pollution Crisis?

Live Mint  

-- The final round of United Nations-brokered talks aimed at tackling plastic pollution are opening in South Korea with deep divisions over the need to stem the rising flood of the material, a rift that threatens to scupper a two-year long quest for a deal. A coalition of nearly 70 nations, including Rwanda, Norway and the UK, is pushing for …

Garbage dumpyard in Pacific Ocean is getting bigger and bigger
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Garbage dumpyard in Pacific Ocean is getting bigger and bigger

India Today  

A new study published in Environmental Research Letters reveals a disturbing trend in the North Pacific Garbage Patch : centimeter-sized plastic fragments are accumulating at an alarming rate, outpacing the growth of larger plastic debris. The research, conducted by The Ocean Cleanup between 2015 and 2022, found that plastic fragments in the NPGP rose from 2.9kg per square km to …

The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year
4 months ago

The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year

Associated Press  

The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people’s bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South. For 15% of the world’s population, government fails to collect and dispose of waste, …

World pumps out 57 million tons of plastic pollution yearly and most comes in Global South
4 months ago

World pumps out 57 million tons of plastic pollution yearly and most comes in Global South

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The world creates 57 million …

Microplastics found in human brains: Scientists urge global action
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Microplastics found in human brains: Scientists urge global action

New Indian Express  

The widespread use of plastics has led to severe environmental contamination, with microplastics now infiltrating vital human organs, including the brain. A growing body of evidence reveals that these tiny plastic particles—less than 5 millimeters in size—are accumulating in the air, water, food, and even within human tissues. In a recent study, soon to be peer-reviewed and published by the …

Microplastics are everywhere, but are they harming us?
5 months ago

Microplastics are everywhere, but are they harming us?

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Dr. Marya Zlatnik, a San …

Common cleaning product releases trillions of microplastics each month, study warns
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Common cleaning product releases trillions of microplastics each month, study warns

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Melamine foam sponges used to clean households worldwide release trillions of …

An ocean of plastics
5 months, 3 weeks ago

An ocean of plastics

The Hindu  

There is a real-felt need to go beyond mere tokenism of staging earth-hours now and then to stoke dormant concerns on the world’s increasingly fragile ecology. Increased infusion of plastics, much of it non-biodegradable and unrecycled, in IT and other industrial sectors and in day-to-day life poses another existential threat. These incidents portend the looming unmanaged plastic and e-waste threat, …

What can microplastics do to the human body? | In Focus podcast
9 months, 2 weeks ago

What can microplastics do to the human body? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

It’s hard to imagine a world without plastic now – plastic exists in almost every sphere of our life. Microplastics, the tiny toxic particles that plastics shed and that are scattered across the environment have been found everywhere – from clouds, to the bottom of the ocean, in Antarctica and even in our bodies – we swallow them and we …

Chemicals in plastics far more numerous than previous estimates, report says
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Chemicals in plastics far more numerous than previous estimates, report says

The Hindu  

At least 3,000 more chemicals are in plastics — from food packaging to toys to medical devices — than previously estimated by environmental agencies, a report published on Thursday found, raising questions over pollution and consumer safety. While the United Nations Environment Programme had previously identified around 13,000 plastic chemicals, the report by a team of European scientists found more …

Sludge compost is an increasing source of microplastics, researchers say
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Sludge compost is an increasing source of microplastics, researchers say

LA Times  

A team of UCLA researchers has put a new spin on the 1970s rock classic “Dust in the Wind” — only this one is grimmer and grimier than the original hit by Kansas. “If you blow wind on soil with microplastics, you’d expect a similar amount of soil and microplastic to be present in the dust,” said Sanjay Mohanty, a …

Microplastic menace in Antarctica: UN to analyse penguin droppings, water
1 year ago

Microplastic menace in Antarctica: UN to analyse penguin droppings, water

India Today  

Scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Argentine Antarctic Institute have embarked on an expedition to Antarctica to investigate the extent of microplastic pollution in this remote region. Utilizing nuclear science techniques, the team aims to analyse samples from the icy waters, seabed sediment, and even penguin droppings to gain insights into the presence and origins of these …

Plastic particles entering SA waterways from clothes and tyres, research finds
1 year, 3 months ago

Plastic particles entering SA waterways from clothes and tyres, research finds

ABC  

New research has shed more light about where microplastics are accumulating in South Australian waterways — and where the plastic pollution is coming from. Key points: Fibres from synthetic clothing and particles from tyres are among the main sources of plastic in SA waterways Researchers used ocean current modelling to predict where plastic particles would congregate One says washing machine …

Editorial: Your clothes are polluting the environment with microplastics. Can washing machines help?
1 year, 4 months ago

Editorial: Your clothes are polluting the environment with microplastics. Can washing machines help?

LA Times  

When you hear the word “microfiber,” you probably think of the now-ubiquitous reusable cloths used for cleaning floors, wiping up spills and polishing countertops. It describes the tiny threads that textiles — clothes, bedding, towels and, yes, reusable cleaning cloths — shed by the millions during each spin through the washing machine and which ultimately end up polluting the environment, …

Study finds how oceans release microplastics into atmosphere
1 year, 4 months ago

Study finds how oceans release microplastics into atmosphere

Hindustan Times  

Oldenburg, August 20 : Microplastic waste can be discovered in the marine environment even at far-off places in the world. According to research led by Dr Barbara Scholz-Bottcher of the University of Oldenburg, these tiny particles originate on land but are also released back into the atmosphere by the sea. "With our study, we present data on the mass load …

Yet Another Problem With Recycling: It Spews Microplastics
1 year, 8 months ago

Yet Another Problem With Recycling: It Spews Microplastics

Wired  

The plastics industry has long hyped recycling, even though it is well aware that it’s been a failure. Now, an alarming new study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. In other words, recyclers trying to solve the plastics crisis …

Microplastics Are Polluting the Ocean at a Shocking Rate
1 year, 10 months ago

Microplastics Are Polluting the Ocean at a Shocking Rate

Wired  

If you throw a polyester sweatshirt in the washing machine, it doesn’t emerge as quite its former self. An international team of researchers calculates that between 82 and 358 trillion plastic particles—a collective 2.4 to 10.8 billion pounds—are floating across the world … and that’s only in the top foot of seawater. “We're talking about quintillions, probably, that's out there, …

How much plastic is too much for our planet?
1 year, 11 months ago

How much plastic is too much for our planet?

Al Jazeera  

On Wednesday, January 11 at 19:30 GMT: Microplastics – tiny particles that result from the breakdown of plastics – are everywhere, from the air we breathe to the water we drink. And while the harms caused by microplastics are still being studied, researchers and environmental advocates say more action needs to be taken to rein in plastic pollution. Global plastic …

What is plastic rain? All you need to know
2 years ago

What is plastic rain? All you need to know

India Today  

The detrimental effects of a plastic mist or rain of microplastics on the human body are a reality, not the subject of research or hypothesis. According to a study done by a group of experts from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, every square metre of urban rooftops in Auckland receives an average of 5,000 pieces of microplastic every …

Antibiotics from plastics! Study reveals use of microplastics in water bodies
2 years, 6 months ago

Antibiotics from plastics! Study reveals use of microplastics in water bodies

Live Mint  

As the world struggles to combat pollution in various aspects-- soil, air, water, noise-- a recent study published in the journal, 'American Society for Microbiology' have found that plastic pollution may after all serve as the source for antibiotics in ocean. Scientists and experts who conducted the study have pointed out that at least 5-13 million tonnes of plastic waste …

‘High levels’ of atmospheric microplastics found near busy trunk road
2 years, 9 months ago

‘High levels’ of atmospheric microplastics found near busy trunk road

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy “High levels” of atmospheric microplastics have been found by scientists during a year-long study at …

California officials approve plan to crack down on microplastics polluting the ocean
2 years, 10 months ago

California officials approve plan to crack down on microplastics polluting the ocean

LA Times  

California aims to sharply limit the spiraling scourge of microplastics in the ocean, while urging more study of this threat to fish, marine mammals and potentially to humans, under a plan a state panel approved Wednesday. The Ocean Protection Council voted to make California the first state to adopt a comprehensive plan to rein in the pollution, recommending everything from …

Plastic pollution in oceans on track to rise for decades
2 years, 11 months ago

Plastic pollution in oceans on track to rise for decades

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Plastic pollution at sea is …

Switzerland covered by as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastic every year, study says
2 years, 11 months ago

Switzerland covered by as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastic every year, study says

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy At least 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to …

Scientists find plastic particles in clean air over French Pyrenees mountains
3 years ago

Scientists find plastic particles in clean air over French Pyrenees mountains

India Today  

From polluting the depths of the Mariana Trench to the top of Mount Everest, microplastics have now infiltrated the clean air as well. A team of researchers have found these plastic particles invading the air surrounding Pic du Midi at an altitude of 2,877 meter in the French Pyrenees. Researchers found microplastic concentration of approximately one particle per four cubic …

From Mount Everest to Mariana Trench: Study Finds Plastic in 'Clean' Air
3 years ago

From Mount Everest to Mariana Trench: Study Finds Plastic in 'Clean' Air

News 18  

From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, microplastics are everywhere – even high in the Earth’s troposphere where wind speeds allow them to travel vast distances, a study showed Tuesday. Scientists from the French national research institute CNRS sampled air 2,877 meters above sea level at the Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees, a so-called “clean station” because …

Vast ocean rubbish patches bringing coastal species into marine ecosystems ‘undisturbed for millennia’, scientists warn
3 years, 1 month ago

Vast ocean rubbish patches bringing coastal species into marine ecosystems ‘undisturbed for millennia’, scientists warn

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In just a few decades, the spiralling levels of waste have created vast, spiralling, “gyres” of plastic waste measuring …

Social cost of plastic produced in 2019 more than India’s GDP
3 years, 4 months ago

Social cost of plastic produced in 2019 more than India’s GDP

Live Mint  

The pollution, emissions and clean-up costs of plastic produced in 2019 alone could be $3.7 trillion, according to a report released on Monday by wildlife charity WWF, warning of the environmental and economic burden of this “seemingly cheap” material. In its report, WWF said societies were "unknowingly subsiding" plastic, with their estimates for the lifetime costs of 2019 production equivalent …

Opinion: Microplastics are getting into our bodies. We need to understand what that means
3 years, 5 months ago

Opinion: Microplastics are getting into our bodies. We need to understand what that means

LA Times  

Nobody wants to snack on plastic bags or soda rings, but according to a 2019 study from the University of Newcastle, we could be consuming roughly a credit card’s worth of plastic every week. “We started to realize that we have exposure that’s much greater than just a fish at the grocery store,” said Dr. Chelsea Rochman, a University of …

How a drone army is rising to tackle ocean plastics
3 years, 6 months ago

How a drone army is rising to tackle ocean plastics

Live Mint  

Floating drones inspired by whale sharks and four-wheeled robots that resemble the Mars rover are among the latest inventions designed to remove litter from the oceans. As many as 91 million metric tons of litter entered the oceans between 1990 and 2015, as much as 87% of which was plastic, according to the research. Solutions invented over the past few …

Your Clothes Spew Microfibers Before They’re Even Clothes
3 years, 7 months ago

Your Clothes Spew Microfibers Before They’re Even Clothes

Wired  

You probably know by now that when you wash a load of synthetic clothes, like yoga pants or moisture-wicking sweatshirts, tiny bits of them tear loose and flush out to a wastewater treatment facility, which then pumps them out to sea. A new report from the Nature Conservancy picks apart the textile supply chain—from the manufacturer who makes synthetic yarn …

Microplastics circulating in the atmosphere are causing 'plastification' of the world: Study
3 years, 8 months ago

Microplastics circulating in the atmosphere are causing 'plastification' of the world: Study

Firstpost  

The amount of microplastic polluting the atmosphere is alarming, as per the study, and circulating everywhere including the oceans. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study states that microplastics may be suspended in the air and have patterns of distribution similar to biogeochemical cycles like water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulphur cycles, which …

Microplastics in air ‘spiral the globe’, pollution study finds
3 years, 8 months ago

Microplastics in air ‘spiral the globe’, pollution study finds

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It’s from what we’ve already dumped into the environment over several decades.” “Under the right conditions, plastics can be …

Roads produce 84 PER CENT of plastic dust in the atmosphere
3 years, 8 months ago

Roads produce 84 PER CENT of plastic dust in the atmosphere

Daily Mail  

Roads and the vehicles using them are responsible for 84 per cent of microplastics found in the atmosphere, according to the results of a new study. Researchers from Utah State University examined different sources of atmospheric microplastic pollution found in the western US over a 14 month period. The US team found that 84 per cent of microplastics in the …

New Pollution Threat? Russian Scientists are Collecting Samples of Snow Containing Microplastics
3 years, 9 months ago

New Pollution Threat? Russian Scientists are Collecting Samples of Snow Containing Microplastics

News 18  

Russian scientists are trying to understand the scale of a potential threat to the environment in Siberia: snow polluted with microplastics that then melts and seeps into the ground. Scientists at Tomsk State University say they have gathered snow samples from 20 different Siberian regions – from the Altai mountains to the Arctic – and that their preliminary findings confirm …

Sydney beaches and rivers contain high levels of microplastics, scientists find
3 years, 10 months ago

Sydney beaches and rivers contain high levels of microplastics, scientists find

ABC  

Kilos of tiny particles of plastic smaller than 5 millimetres are being found across Sydney's beaches and rivers, highlighting the scale of the threat to local marine life and the risk to human health, scientists say. Key points: Researchers say hotspots in Sydney include Dee Why, Botany Bay, Cooks River, Chipping Norton and Liverpool The highest in Sydney was at …

92% of microplastics in the Arctic Ocean are synthetic fibres
3 years, 11 months ago

92% of microplastics in the Arctic Ocean are synthetic fibres

Daily Mail  

Three quarters of the microplastic pollution in the Arctic ocean is made up of polyester fibres from clothing and other textiles, a study has found. In their study, Dr Ross and colleagues analysed microplastic pollution in samples of seawater taken from 26 feet under the ocean surface at 71 stations across the European and North American Arctic — including from …

Watch | All about microplastics
4 years, 2 months ago

Watch | All about microplastics

The Hindu  

The world's sea floor is littered with an estimated 14 million tonnes of microplastics, according to Australia's national science agency CSIRO. Microplastics are divided into two categories: Primary microplastics Primary microplastics which enter the environment directly, are tiny particles designed for commercial use, as well as microfibers shed from clothing and other textiles, such as fishing nets. Examples of primary …

World's Sea Floor is Littered With a Staggering 14 Million Tonnes of Microplastics, Reveals Study
4 years, 3 months ago

World's Sea Floor is Littered With a Staggering 14 Million Tonnes of Microplastics, Reveals Study

News 18  

The world’s sea floor is littered with an estimated 14 million tonnes of microplastics, broken down from the masses of rubbish entering the oceans every year, according to Australia’s national science agency. “We were surprised to observe high microplastic loads in such a remote location.” The scientists, who published their findings in peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Marine Science, said areas …

14 million tonnes of microplastics on sea floor: study
4 years, 3 months ago

14 million tonnes of microplastics on sea floor: study

The Hindu  

The world's sea floor is littered with an estimated 14 million tonnes of microplastics, broken down from the masses of rubbish entering the oceans every year, according to Australia's national science agency. “We were surprised to observe high microplastic loads in such a remote location.” The scientists, who published their findings in peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Marine Science, said areas …

Plastic pollution flowing into oceans to triple by 2040: Study
4 years, 5 months ago

Plastic pollution flowing into oceans to triple by 2040: Study

India Today  

The amount of plastic waste flowing into the ocean and killing marine life could triple in the next 20 years, unless companies and governments can drastically reduce plastic production, a new study published on Thursday said. If no action is taken, however, the amount of plastic going into the sea every year will rise from 11 million tonnes to 29 …

Ocean Plastics Could Triple If We Don’t Act Now, Warn Experts
4 years, 5 months ago

Ocean Plastics Could Triple If We Don’t Act Now, Warn Experts

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Plastic waste in the ocean could nearly triple over the next two decades unless the world takes unprecedented levels of action now and completely changes the way it uses plastics, warns a new report released Thursday. “Unsurprisingly, people who dump waste in the environment don’t keep records, so there remains huge uncertainty amongst the many estimates of …

Where are the airborne plastics? Scientists find they are in the air we breath, the wind and the skies
4 years, 6 months ago

Where are the airborne plastics? Scientists find they are in the air we breath, the wind and the skies

Firstpost  

Plastic pollution isn’t just fouling the world’s oceans. “There’s no nook or cranny on the surface of the earth that won’t have microplastics,” said Janice Brahney, a Utah State University scientist who is lead author on the new study. But she added that the researchers seemed to be the first to ask through their research, “the basic science question: Why …

Microplastic pollution in ocean could be double previous estimates, study finds
4 years, 7 months ago

Microplastic pollution in ocean could be double previous estimates, study finds

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Professor Pennie Lindeque, who led the study, said that the team focused on coastal waters, where microplastics are believed …

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