Microplastics in Chewing Gum, Glitter Harming Marine Life, Plastic Use Quadruples
Chewing a single piece of gum for one hour can release more than 250,000 microplastic particles into your saliva, a disturbing new study from Queen’s University Belfast has found.
Published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, the research also detected nanoplastics in saliva - even smaller fragments that result from the further breakdown of microplastics.
These tiny invaders can enter the body through a range of routes, and growing evidence suggests they may harm our lungs, digestive tract, and reproductive system.
You can read the full paper here.
Glitter Disrupting Marine Ecosystems
It’s in your make-up, in crafts, in school projects, it gets everywhere…. and now that sparkly glitter has been found to be affecting ocean chemistry.
A team at Trinity College Dublin found that glitter made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) can speed up the formation of minerals like calcium carbonate in seawater.
This is critical because it affects marine organisms that depend on these minerals to build shells and skeletons. Even more alarming is the fact that the process can begin within minutes of glitter entering the ocean.
PET glitter doesn’t break down easily, and its layered plastic-metal-dye structure means it sticks around for the long haul—often ending up in marine ecosystems.
Full report here.
Plastic Use Has Quadrupled in 30 Years
A white paper from Avery Dennison has revealed that global plastic use has increased fourfold over the past three decades, creating 350 million tonnes of waste each year.
Not only, that, plastic use now accounts for 3.4% of global greenhouse emissions.
There appears to be hope for the future, as consumers are paying attention. One-third of people now rank sustainable packaging among their top environmental priorities.
Meanwhile, recycled plastics like PET and HDPE are proving far less emissions-intensive than their virgin counterparts. Innovations in label technology are also helping make packaging more recyclable.
» Get the white paper here.
» Check out UK-based sustainable packaging supplier SRMailing here.
Microplastics Gathering In The Deep Sea
Microplastics don’t just float in the sea, they plunge thousands of metres and are piling up in deep-sea hotspots.
In a groundbreaking field study, scientists captured the first real-world footage of turbidity currents—powerful underwater avalanches—dragging microplastics into the deep ocean at speeds of up to eight metres per second.
Most of the microplastics found were fibres from clothing and textiles, now confirmed to be part of the 99% of ocean plastic that isn’t visible on the surface.
The collaborative effort by researchers from The University of Manchester, the National Oceanography Centre, the University of Leeds, and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research focused on the Whittard Canyon in the Celtic Sea.
Samples taken showed not only sand and mud, but heavy concentrations of synthetic fibres that wastewater treatment plants can’t catch.
» Read: As Long As We Use Plastic, We Can't Stop Using Fossil Fuels