Chinanews.com, August 20 (Guo Peishan) Recently, news about plastics has frequently hit people's eyes. "Plastic rain" fell in Colorado, plastic particles were found in Arctic ice cores, and a Thai dugong baby also died of plastic residues in his stomach... People can't help but worry, in the near future, will we be able to inhale plastic even when breathing?

150 years ago, the invention of plastic, which is light, strong and cheap, benefited mankind a lot. Today, it is this material that is still "indispensable" to production and life that gives a serious warning to the earth's environment and human survival:

If we don't protect the ecology as soon as possible, humans may suffer the consequences in the future.

Every year, more than one million marine creatures stop breathing due to plastic pollution

On August 17, the Thai "Internet celebrity" dugong cub "Marian" died after rescue failed. Officials said it died of sepsis and gastric suppuration. Medical staff also found a small amount of plastic waste in its intestines.

A few months ago, "Marian" was stranded on the beach and rescued by the authorities. Its cute appearance of rubbing against the rescuers also became popular on the Internet. Its death made many Thai people who loved it heartbroken.

However, looking around the world, such things happen every day...

According to statistics from the United Nations, about 100 million tons of plastic have been dumped into the ocean so far, and more than 1 million marine creatures die from plastic waste every year.

It is reported that most marine creatures cannot distinguish between plastic waste and food. Among the more than 1,000 leatherback turtles that die each year, 34% of them mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and swallow them into their bodies, causing death; in recent years, stranded sperm whales have been found on many beaches around the world, and most of them have dozens of kilograms of plastic waste in their stomachs...

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation of the United Kingdom once predicted that at the current rate of development, the weight of plastic waste in the ocean will catch up with the weight of marine life by 2050. This sounds like a nightmare.

"Plastic rain" falls in the United States, and microplastics are found in the Arctic ice core

How many pieces of clean land are there on Earth?

In recent years, plastic seems to be "pervasive". On July 14, the United States Geological Survey announced that tiny plastic fragments, beads and plastic fibers were found in the rainwater in Colorado, the United States. At the same time, American researchers also found a large number of microplastics in the Arctic ice core.

These discoveries are shocking.

According to reports, microplastics refer to plastic fragments with a diameter of less than 5 mm. This concept was first proposed in 2004, and then the substance was found all over the world, including mountains, seabed, Antarctica...no one was spared.

The report said that the "fall" of the Arctic this time shows that even the most remote waters on Earth cannot escape the threat of plastic pollution. At the same time, scientists have also proposed a new hypothesis-microplastics may be "blown" to remote areas of the world.

"There are many more plastics than we can see. In the rain, in the snow, there are. Now, plastics are part of the environment." said Gregory Weiser, chief researcher of the United States Geological Survey.

Will plastics cause greater harm to humans in the future?

At present, the harm of plastics has spread to humans. In November 2018, a multinational team of experts in Europe said that microplastics were found in human fecal samples for the first time, and their diameter was thicker than a human hair.

Scientists speculate that these microplastics enter the human body through eating marine fish or drinking bottled water. However, are these microplastics harmful to the human body?

At present, this issue has not been determined. On the one hand, a survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2017 pointed out that microplastics may not cause harm to the human body. Because for rodents and dogs, microplastics with a diameter of more than 150 microns will not be absorbed, but excreted through feces. Therefore, 90% of microplastics will not be absorbed by the human body.

However, some studies have shown that the composition of plastic itself and the adsorbed components may have a negative impact on people and the ecology. Ruxton, the director of the documentary "Plastic Ocean", also said that these chemicals will enter the food chain, and infertility, cancer, endocrine disorders and other problems are all related to it.

Global joint governance of plastic problems, do you want to join in?

Nine years ago, 16-year-old Dutch boy Slater went to the beach to swim, and the sight of garbage on the sea surface shocked him.

Now, at the age of 25, he founded the "Ocean Cleanup" Foundation and is currently leading a team to clean up marine garbage in the "Pacific Garbage Belt". It is reported that Slater's goal is to reduce marine garbage by 90% by 2040.

He is not fighting alone.

In 2016, the United Nations Environment Assembly equated marine plastic garbage and microplastics with major global environmental issues such as global climate change. And long before this decision, many governments and private enterprises have taken action one after another.

Over the years, countries and regions such as China, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and India have successively issued plastic bans.

In the private sector, Japanese companies have launched edible tableware to reduce the use of plastics; British scientists have used recycled plastic bottles to make prosthetic covers, which are lighter and cheaper.

Thailand has also filmed a promotional video in which merchants deliberately put plastic bags into food, causing people to get angry after accidentally eating them, in order to warn the public to pay attention to the harm that plastic waste brings to marine life.

Some people say that the plastic waste thrown away will eventually return to humans in another way. So, if you can choose, what kind of world do you want to live in? (End)

Plastic Industry Video