Ocean plastic has made a big splash, but there may be even more microplastic on land. The problem is that we have no idea exactly how much is in Australian soil, where it is, and what it’s doing.
Plastics and microplastics in the marine environment are one of the great cause célèbre of our era. Here’s what we know and don’t know.
Sustainable swimwear shopping means that you don’t have to worry about the sea soaking in plastic from your bathers while you soak in the sun!
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Plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and other animals, and most don’t ever break down - they just break up. Every piece of petrochemical-derived plastic ever made still exists on the planet.
Microplastics are a major ecological concern causing damage to marine life.
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Microfibres and microplastics are a massive problem for marine life. Once ingested, they
severely affect marine animals ability to eat. There’s also concerns about their toxicity.
Around 94% of litter on South African beaches is made of plastic, of which 77% is packaging.
Peter Ryan
Dave West from the environmental group Boomerang Alliance told Fairfax that if you’ve got an average seafood diet in Australia, you’re probably ingesting about 11,000 plastic pieces a year. Is that right?
Microplastics sample collected in a plankton net trawl in the North Pacific subtropical gyre from the SSV Robert C Seamans.
Giora Proskurowski/Sea Education Association
Research Director, Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP); Honorary Senior Research Fellow, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University