Microplastics facts for kids

Microplastics in sediments from four rivers in Germany. See the different shapes shown by white arrows. (The white bars show 1 mm for size.)

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic. They are smaller than 0.195 inches (about 5 millimeters). This definition comes from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency.

These tiny plastics cause pollution. They get into nature from many places. This includes cosmetics, clothing, food packaging, and factories.

The word micro means "small." The word macro means "large." So, macroplastics are bigger plastic items like bottles.

There are two main types of microplastics:

• Primary microplastics are made to be small. They are already tiny (0.195 inches or less) before they enter the environment.
• Secondary microplastics start as larger plastics. They break down into smaller pieces after they get into nature.

Both types of microplastics are found everywhere. They are mostly in water and ocean environments. Here, they cause water pollution. But microplastics are also found in the air and in land environments.

Plastics break down very slowly. This means microplastics can be eaten by living things. They can then build up inside their bodies. Harmful chemicals from the ocean can also move up the food chain. In soil, microplastics can hurt the soil. They can also make earthworms weigh less.

Scientists have found microplastics in very old soil layers. These layers are older than when plastics were invented! They have also been found high in the mountains. This is far from where they started.

Microplastics have even been found in human tissue and blood. Scientists are still studying how this affects people's health.

What Are Microplastics?

Microplastic samples

Broken down green plastic bag next to a hiking trail. It broke into about 2,000 pieces after three months outside.

The word "microplastics" was first used in 2004. It was introduced by Professor Richard Thompson. He is a marine biologist from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.

Microplastics are very common today. In 2014, experts thought there were between 15 and 51 trillion tiny pieces of microplastic in the world's oceans. This amount weighed between 102,514 and 260,145 tons.

Primary Microplastics

Tiny plastic beads (microspherules) made of polyethylene in toothpaste

a) An artificial turf football field with ground tire rubber (GTR) for cushioning. b) Microplastics from the same field. Rain washed them into nature near a stream.

Primary microplastics are small plastic pieces made to be small. They are often called "microbeads" or "scrubbers." You can find them in many products:

• Hand or facial cleansers and cosmetics.
• Air blasting technology, which uses tiny plastic scrubbers to clean things.
• Some medicines.

Microplastics have replaced natural things in skincare. For example, they replaced ground almond shells, oatmeal, and pumice. In air blasting, tiny plastic scrubbers are shot at machines, engines, and boat parts. This helps remove rust and paint.

Secondary Microplastics

Secondary microplastics are small plastic pieces that come from larger plastic trash. These larger pieces break down over time. The smallest microplastic found in the oceans was 0.000063 inches (1.6 micrometers) wide. Scientists believe that microplastics with uneven shapes come from this breaking-down process.

Other Ways Microplastics Enter Nature

There are many ways primary and secondary microplastics get into the environment.

• Tiny plastic fibers come from washing synthetic clothing.
• Tires are partly made of plastic-like rubber. As tires are used, they wear down. This releases tiny plastic and rubber bits into the air and onto roads.

Nanoplastics

Nanoplastics are even smaller than microplastics. They are usually less than 1 micrometer (or 1000 nanometers) in size. Some scientists think nanoplastics are a temporary step when plastics break down. Others believe they are a hidden danger that will get worse.

Nanoplastics might harm the environment and human health. Because they are so small, nanoplastics can pass through cell walls. This could affect how cells work. We don't know much about how nanoplastics affect human health. But studies show that when fish take them in, their stress levels, growth, and ability to reproduce are harmed.

How Microplastics Affect Nature

In 2019, a group of scientists from the European Union said that microplastics are now everywhere. They are in every part of our environment. They believe that microplastic pollution will spread widely within 100 years if we don't stop it.

Most scientific research has looked at larger plastic items. Marine animals can get tangled in, eat, or choke on plastics in the ocean. But microplastics are harder to see. They are usually invisible to our eyes. They affect more types of living things. Scientists also need to study "toxicity debt." This is when plastics release harmful chemicals as they break down.

Microplastics have been found in oceans and freshwater systems. This includes marshes, streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers. They have been found in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia. In the United States, plastic particles were found in 29 rivers that flow into the Great Lakes. Most of these particles were microplastics.

How Microplastics Get Inside Living Things

Microplastics can get inside animals' bodies. This happens when they eat, drink, or breathe them in. Scientists have found microplastics in the stomachs, lungs, and digestive systems of sea animals. It can take up to 14 days for microplastics to pass through an animal. Normally, food passes through in about 2 days. This affects larger animals like tuna and swordfish that eat smaller animals. The smaller animals might feel full from the microplastics. This can make them starve or get hurt in other ways.

In 2017, scientists found microplastic fibers, pieces, and beads stuck to seagrass. This was in the Turneffe Atoll near Belize. Seagrass is part of the barrier reef ecosystem. Parrotfish eat seagrass, and then humans eat parrotfish.

Tiny ocean creatures called zooplankton eat microplastic beads. They then release waste that has microplastics in it. The microplastics also stick to their legs and outer shells.

Animals and plants are not the only ones affected. Some tiny living things called microbes live on the surface of microplastics. This group of microbes forms a slimy layer called a biofilm. These microplastic biofilms can be a perfect home for harmful germs. They can also carry genes that make germs resistant to antibiotics. These can then spread through water.

How marine life is exposed to microplastics. Source:European Environmental Agency

It's not just water animals that can be harmed. Microplastics can stop the growth of terrestrial plants (plants that grow in soil). They can also harm earthworms. In 2019, microplastic pieces were found in the stomachs of a type of newt called (Triturus carnifex).

How Microplastics Affect Humans

In 2019, a group of scientists from the European Union said that we don't know much about how nanoplastics and microplastics affect human health. They said there is still a lot of uncertainty. This means scientists are not sure how many microplastics it would take to harm a human. Scientists are still doing research on this.

How Microplastics Float or Sink

About half of the plastic that gets into the ocean floats. But sometimes it can sink to the ocean floor. This happens when it breaks down or is eaten by animals. Microplastics can also form a floating, slimy layer on the ocean's surface. How much a microplastic floats depends on its density. It also depends on its size and shape.

Where Microplastics Are Found

Steve Allen from Dalhousie University in Canada led a study that found microplastics in high mountains. He said, "Plastic leaving the ocean into the air that high – it shows there is no end for this plastic. It's just moving around and around in a never-ending cycle."

Oceans

Microplastic fibers found in the ocean

Microplastics are a big part of the "plastic soup" in our oceans. They are tiny pieces of plastic that are hard to see. They come from many sources. These include larger plastic items breaking down. They also come from tiny plastic beads in products like face washes.

Ice Cores

Scientists found 96 microplastic particles in an ice core from east Antarctica in 2009. These particles came from 14 different types of plastic. Plastic pollution had been found in Antarctic surface waters and sediments before. It was also found in Arctic sea ice. But this was the first time plastic was found in Antarctic sea ice. The particles were quite large. This suggests the pollution came from nearby.

Freshwater Systems

Microplastics are found widely in the world's water environments. The first study on microplastics in freshwater ecosystems was in 2011. It found plastic pieces in Lake Huron's sediment. Since then, microplastics have been found in all the Great Lakes. They have also been found in Lake Winnipeg and the Rhine River in Europe.

Soil

Most research on microplastics has been in water. But a lot of microplastics are likely in the world's soil. Scientists think that tiny plastic fibers from washing machines could end up in soil. This happens if water treatment plants don't filter out all the fibers. More research is needed to fully understand this.

Human Body

Microplastics get into the food we eat, the water we drink, and even the air we breathe. Some scientists guess that people eat more than 50,000 plastic particles each year. This number is much higher if breathing them in is included. Microplastics were found in every human tissue studied by students at Arizona State University. They have also been found in blood. This means they can travel around the human body. Scientists wonder if they can also reach the brain. In December 2020, microplastic particles were found in the placentas of unborn babies.

Plastic pollution harms the world’s poorest people the most. It directly and indirectly threatens their basic human rights. This includes their rights to life, health, water and sanitation, food, housing, culture, and development.

Air

Tiny plastic particles have been found in the air. This includes both indoors and outdoors. A study in 2007 found microfibers indoors. In 2019, a study found that wind carries microplastics through the air. Microplastics have also been found in street dust and snow. But like with freshwater and soil, more studies are needed to understand the full impact of airborne microplastics.

Ideas for Solutions

Burning and Breaking Down Plastics

Some researchers suggest burning plastics to create energy. This is called energy recovery. But this method does not reduce how much new plastic is made. So, recycling plastics is seen as a better solution.

Biodegradation is another possible solution. This is when tiny living things called microorganisms eat and break down man-made plastics. They use special chemicals called enzymes. These broken-down plastics can then be used for energy and as a source of carbon. These microbes could also be used to clean sewage wastewater. This would reduce the number of microplastics that get into nature.

Filtering Water

Systems that collect stormwater or wastewater can catch many microplastics. These plastics are then sent to treatment plants. The caught microplastics become part of the sludge from these plants. This sludge is often used as farm fertilizer. This means the plastics can still enter waterways through runoff.

Fionn Ferreira, who won the 2019 Google Science Fair, is working on a device. It uses a special liquid called a ferrofluid to remove microplastic particles from water.

Collection Devices

Computer models by The Ocean Cleanup, a group from the Netherlands, suggest something. They think that collection devices placed near coasts could remove about 31% of microplastics in those areas.

Also, some bacteria have learned to eat plastic. Some types of bacteria have even been changed by scientists to eat certain kinds of plastics.

Education and Recycling

Teaching people about recycling is another idea to help with microplastic pollution. If more people recycle, less new plastic would need to be made.

Raising Awareness

A sign encouraging people to collect nurdles (small plastic pellets). This helps reduce their harm to coastal areas.

Many groups and organizations are working to make people aware of microplastic pollution.

• On April 11, 2013, Italian artist Maria Cristina Finucci started The Garbage Patch State. This project is supported by UNESCO and the Italian Ministry of the Environment.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started its "Trash-Free Waters" project in 2013. It also gave money to projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• The EPA works with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Peace Corps. They work to reduce and remove trash in the Caribbean Sea.
• The Florida Microplastic Awareness Project (FMAP) is a group of volunteers. They look for microplastics in water samples from the coast.
• The United Nations has a goal called Sustainable Development Goal 14. It aims to stop and reduce all kinds of ocean pollution by 2025.

Funding Projects

The Clean Oceans Initiative started in 2018. It is a project by public groups like the European Investment Bank. These groups are giving over $2 billion in loans, grants, and help until 2023. Their goal is to create projects that remove pollution from waterways. They focus on both large and small plastics before they reach the oceans.

Rules and Laws

More people are learning about microplastic pollution. Because of this, groups are asking governments to make laws. These laws would make companies create products without microplastics. These environmental groups will keep pushing companies to remove plastics from their products. This helps keep nature healthy.

China

In 2018, China stopped buying recyclable waste from other countries. This made those countries rethink their recycling plans. Scientific American reported that China puts 30% of all plastics into the ocean.

United States

In the U.S., new laws are starting to help reduce the harm from microplastics. Illinois was the first U.S. state to ban cosmetics with microplastics. President Barack Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act 2015. This law bans "rinse-off" cosmetic products that have microplastic beads. On June 16, 2020, California set a definition for "microplastics in drinking water."

On July 25, 2018, a law to reduce microplastics was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. This law is part of the Save Our Seas Act. This act is designed to fight ocean pollution. It aims to support the NOAA's Marine Debris Program. President Donald Trump signed this bill into law on October 11, 2018.

Japan

On June 15, 2018, the Japanese government passed a law. It aims to reduce microplastic production and pollution. This is especially important in water environments.

European Union

The European Commission asked a group of top scientists to study microplastic pollution. This was done through the EU's Scientific Advice Mechanism. The commission will decide if European rules should change to reduce microplastic pollution.

In January 2019, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) suggested banning microplastics. This would apply to microplastics that are put into products on purpose.

The European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan wants to require recycling of important products. This includes plastic packaging. The European Commission also wants to reduce secondary microplastics from tires and clothes. They plan to update a rule about wastewater treatment. This will protect nature from factory and city wastewater. A change to the EU Drinking Water Directive was also approved for a short time. This will make sure microplastics are checked regularly in drinking water.

United Kingdom

The Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017 ban making any rinse-off personal care products that have microbeads. These products include things like face scrubs. This law lists specific consequences if it is not followed. Those who don't follow it must pay a fine. If they don't pay, they might get a notice to stop making the product. If they still don't stop, further action can be taken.

Fun Facts About Microplastics

• Companies started putting microplastics called microbeads in beauty products. This was because it was cheaper than using natural ingredients.
• Recent studies found that 83% of city tap water had plastic pollution.
• Scientists tested eleven of the world’s biggest bottled water brands for microplastics. The results showed that 93% of bottled water had microplastics.
• If you drink three regular cups of tea or coffee daily in a paper cup, you could be swallowing 75,000 tiny microplastic particles. That's a good reason to use a mug!
• The U.S. and the UK make more plastic waste per person than almost any other major country.
• Each year, about 1 million tons of tiny plastic fibers are released into wastewater.
• A single fleece jacket can shed up to 250,000 microfibers during one wash.
• The average person eats about 0.176 ounces of plastic per week.

See Also

In Spanish: Microplástico para niños

• Citizen Science, which are cleanup projects people can join.
• Plastic soup