When we talk about waste, the first thing that comes to our mind is litter and trash. Shopping bags, old shoes, vegetable peels and plastic straws are the usual images that pop up in our head. However, waste is actually a very broad term, and it encompasses much more than we can actually visualise. One recent and alarming discovery regarding the topic of waste is that of microplastics.

Not to be confused with ordinary plastic products like straws, bags and toys, microplastics are so small that they usually aren’t even visible to the naked eye. To be more specific, microplastics constitute those tiny pieces of plastic that are less than five millimetres in length. Due to their elusive and rather small nature, not much is currently known about microplastics, but most scientists agree that they originate from larger plastic debris. 

This debris breaks apart into smaller and smaller pieces until they become so small that they can easily pass through water filtration systems without being detected. Thus, they can easily make it into large water bodies like lakes, rivers and oceans without being detected. According to national geographic, numerous experiments have shown that Microplastics pose a significant threat to aquatic creatures. According to this research, microplastics block digestive tracts, reduce the natural urge to eat, disrupt feeding patterns, all of which reduce growth and reproductive output.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons are some of the major constituents and sources of microplastics, and when these products are littered into the open ground, the force of rainwater can break apart particles into minute fragments, which may leach into nearby water bodies causing great harm to the prevalent fauna. 

Some sources of  microplastics double up as endocrine disruptors. In simple terms, they also interfere and disrupt organisms’ normal hormone functions. According to research from National Geographic, Flame retardants can interfere with brain and neural development. Even BPA can cause issues with laboratory animals at the amount which is currently permissible during current methods of production.

Still, the effect of microplastics on humans after consumption is yet to be determined and still ambiguous. Conclusive research regarding this topic will most probably be published in a few years after the appropriate experiments have been conducted. However, from the effects that we can already see in aquatic life, microplastics are extremely harmful for primary productivity and marine ecosystems. 

Thus, I plead with everyone who reads this to minimise their plastic waste output and take care about the plastic products they buy from shops, as certain substances found in common products are known to disintegrate easily into microplastics. This will be an essential step if we plan on achieving the goal of “Zero Waste”.