Paper-stem or reusable cotton buds
Plastic-stem cotton buds are banned in the UK and EU because they are flushed and end up on beaches; paper stems or a reusable…
Individuals
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Look for Plastic Free and How2Recycle labels
Vague eco claims are everywhere; third-party marks such as Plastic Free Certification, Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) and How2Recycle tell you what the packaging is…
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171 trillion plastic particles now float on the world’s oceans
Surface plastic has risen sharply since 2005 and is mostly microplastic, according to 40 years of ocean sampling.
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a plastic soup, not an island
At least 79,000 tonnes of plastic drift across 1.6 million square kilometres, and nearly half the mass is abandoned fishing nets.
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Clothes washing and tyre wear are the biggest sources of ocean microplastics
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates 1.5 million tonnes of primary microplastics reach the ocean each year, over a third from synthetic…
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Plastic bottles and caps overtake cigarette butts as the top beach litter
Ocean Conservancy’s 40th International Coastal Cleanup logged 1.3 million plastic bottles and 886,000 caps in a single year.
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Microplastics found in human blood for the first time
A Dutch pilot study detected plastic particles in the blood of 17 of 22 healthy adults, at an average of 1.6 micrograms per millilitre.
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First evidence of microplastics in the human placenta
Italian researchers found plastic fragments in four of six placentas, on both the mother’s and the baby’s side.
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Microplastics measurable in every one of 62 placentas tested
Using a mass-spectrometry method, US researchers found plastic in 100% of placentas, at 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue.
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The disputed ‘spoonful of plastic in your brain’ study
A Nature Medicine paper reported plastic in every brain tested, rising over time, but its method and headline figure are strongly contested.