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Plastic waste, the study says, is “(1) extremely difficult to collect, (2) virtually impossible to sort for recycling, (3) environmentally harmful to reprocess, (4) made of and contaminated by ...
Plastics also release toxic chemicals into the environment and cause physical, chemical harm and biological damage to organisms. Ingestion of plastic does not only lead to death in animals through intestinal blockage but it can also travel up the food chain which affects humans. [101]
In 2016 alone, the U.S. produced 42 million metric tons of plastic, equating to about 286 pounds per person, according to a paper published in Science Advances in 2020 -- nearly more than the ...
Past studies show that microplastics — extremely small pieces of plastic that are either manufactured or a byproduct of the breakdown of larger plastic items — are not only harmful to the ...
A more recent concern in microplastic pollution is the use of plastic films in agriculture. 7.4 million tons of plastic film are used each year to increase food production. [22] Scientists have found that microbial biofilms can form within 7–14 days on plastic film surfaces, and have the ability to alter the chemical properties of the soil ...
Plastics per se have low toxicity due to their insolubility in water and because they have a large molecular weight. They are biochemically inert. Additives in plastic products can be more problemative. [45] For example, plasticizers like adipates and phthalates are often added to brittle plastics like PVC to make them pliable. Traces of these ...
Over 700 marine species, including half of the world’s cetaceans (such as whales and dolphins), all of its sea turtles, and a third of its seabirds, are known to ingest plastic.
Furthermore, plastic bottles and plastic bags that end up in landfills are frequently consumed by animals, which then clogs their digestive systems and leads to death. [4] Because of the substantial growth in plastic consumption, biodegradable additives are becomingly increasingly necessary to increase the rate of degradability of common plastics.