The conversation about microplastics isn't a new one, but the study of how this relatively new element of our daily life is still posing plenty of questions.
"Microplastics are really small particles of plastic that we can't see by eye," says Melissa Maurer-Jones, Associate Professor for Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota Duluth. "One of the main ways that they end up in our ecosystems is through the degradation of different plastic materials, from plastic bags to even coatings on different infrastructure, like roads."
Since the surge of plastics in the 1950s, there have been considerations about their effect on the environment, but it wasn't until the 2010s that the idea of microplastics began picking up significant traction in scientific studies. "We were starting to realize that these particles out in nature weren't just from the trees and weren't just from animals."
For researchers like Maurer-Jones, some vital questions remain, especially those concerning the impact that microplastics have on human health. "The plastics themselves... they act like a sponge. They grab other things in the environment including heavy metals and other small molecule pollutants that might ultimately be toxic."
While those areas of research continue, so too does the work toward a version of plastic that will biodegrade, and the efforts to message personal plastic reduction.
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