High levels of chemicals, which lead to health problems, have been found in seafood, meats and chocolate cake in US stores, reports the Food and Drug Administration.
In USA people consume 70,000 particles of microplastics per year
In the 1940s began the mass production of plastics. Since then the versatile polymers have spread rapidly across the globe. It goes without saying that plastics have made life easier in many ways, but disposing of the materials is a growing problem. Researchers in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology declared that the average USA citizen consumes more than 70,000 particles of microplastics per year, though the health effects of that consumption stay still unclear.
All in plastic
This weeks shocking news reminded us how deep we are all in plastic. Alongside with the usual plastic present in peoples everyday life, plastic occurs to be in places you’ll never think of. A plastic bag was found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where scientists were looking for representatives of animal world, not human’s. This reminds us that plastic pollution problem becomes rampant. How all the planet came to this environmental catastrophe and how to deal with it?!
Plastic and other waste found in British mussels
Researchers have found tiny pieces of plastic in all the samples of mussels they tested in British seawaters and bought from local supermarkets.
The scientists, from the University of Hull and Brunel University, said the contamination from microplastics and other human debris, such as cotton and rayon, was significant and widespread.
Microplastics are ‘littering’ riverbeds
Microscopic plastic beads, fragments and fibres are littering riverbeds across the UK – from rural streams to urban waterways.
This is according to a study that analysed sediments from rivers in north-west England.
War on plastic may do more harm than good, warns think tank
A green think tank has warned of the risk of unintended consequences from the wave of concern about plastics.
The Green Alliance, a parliamentary group, said plastics played a valuable role and couldn’t be simply abolished. It wants to transform the notion of a “War on Plastics” into a “War on Plastic Litter”. The group – like many environmentalists – gave a grudging welcome to Chancellor Philip Hammond’s call for evidence on taxes on single use plastics.