Microplastics are pieces of plastic between 1 micrometre and 5 millimetres in size. They are often shed by the breakdown of everyday plastic items such as synthetic textiles, packaging, paints, cosmetics or car tyres.<\/p>\n
Nanoplastics are particles smaller than 1 micrometre, which makes them small enough to permeate through biological membranes. \u201cEverywhere we look, we find them,\u201d Bowyer said. \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter how deep, how high, how obscure the sampling site, we will find microplastics. And similarly we\u2019re finding microplastics now throughout the human body.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe\u2019re starting to realise that our exposure to microplastics is happening across the whole of the plastics lifecycle. So not just during the production phase and at the disposal end, where most people think of microplastics contamination occurring. But also during our use of plastic, when we\u2019re using plastic packaging or when we\u2019re wrapping ourselves in that lovely soft, cosy blanket on the sofa, or chopping our mushrooms on that plastic chopping board.\u201d<\/p>\n
Submissions of evidence to the report showed particular concerns around the presence of microplastics in soil, which Bowyer said \u201cimpacts the biological, the chemical and the physical functioning of the soil and the soil fertility itself\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to Bowyer, plastic particles affect the soil structure, changing the water capacity of soil; they affect the microbial community, the bacteria and fungi that are crucial to soil health; and they affect the soil fauna, with earthworms ingesting microplastics undergoing physiological changes.<\/p>\n
She said it was important to remember that \u201csoil is not an inert material. It\u2019s a complex living ecosystem; it\u2019s very finely balanced. [It is a] complex ecosystem that supports the growth of crops that feed us. The second thing to remember that\u2019s really important is that microplastics, they\u2019re not just polymer particles \u2026 they\u2019re basically chemical cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are more than 16,000 chemicals used in plastics. About 4,000 are known to be harmful to health, while most of the rest have never undergone safety testing, the report notes.<\/p>\n
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