Ubiquitous Plastic Particles

In China, about 14 million tons of waste plastics are not recycled every year, with a recycling rate of only 25% and a direct resource waste of up to 28 billion yuan/year. Plastic recycling industry has a broad prospect in China. The plastics industry is the pillar of the national economy, and recycling is the way to sustainable development of the plastics industry. Plastic recycling can not only save resources and ease the conflict between supply and demand of plastic raw materials, but also make an important contribution to environmental protection.

It is well known that plastic pollution poses a serious threat to the Earth's ecosystem, especially the marine system. In addition to ecosystems, microplastic particles from plastic pollution are beginning to enter the human body. in August, a group of scientists from Arizona State University announced their latest findings. They detected microplastic particles in every human tissue sample. Although the risk of microplastics to human health is not yet known, the potential risk is still too great to ignore.

Wang Juying, party secretary of the National Marine Environment Monitoring Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said, "Microplastics are widely distributed in various environmental media in the ocean and on land. In the marine environment, microplastics have been detected from offshore to ocean, from the equator to the poles, and from surface water to deep-sea sediments. Microplastics are also widely distributed in terrestrial soils, terrestrial water systems, indoor and outdoor air, and in fish, shellfish and other foods. "As you can see, microplastics have invaded much of the ecosystem and eventually make their way into the marine ecosystem and back to the top of the food chain - the human body.

How many microplastics do we have in our daily life?

SALT

In the last few years, many studies have shown that our edible salt contains vitamin plastic contamination.

According to Greenpeace, a 2015 study by Shi Huahong, an associate professor at the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Research at East China Normal University, showed that 15 brands of salt purchased from Chinese supermarkets contained different types of plastic particles, such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and cellophane. Sea salt contained the most plastic particles, three times more than lake salt and seven times more than well salt.Of the six national salt brands tested by Incheon National University in South Korea in 2018, more than 16% of salt brands in Asia were tested by the Korean National Salt Institute. If salt intake is 10 grams per day, each adult can consume 2,000 vitamin plastic particles per year through salt intake.

SEAFOOD

Seafood is also another major way that humans ingest microplastics. According to the Daily Mail, people who eat seafood every day may swallow as many as 11,000 plastic particles a year. A recent study by the University of Queensland found that all common seafood contains microplastic components, with sardines having the highest average content of 2.9 milligrams per person. Researcher Francesca Ribeiro said that when these microplastics are consumed by various marine organisms, they continue to accumulate in the body and eventually enter the body in the form of seafood.

In 2017, a study conducted by the laboratory of China's National Marine Environment Monitoring Center showed that about 76% of fish intestines and digestive tracts contain microplastics. This seafood containing plastic particles is unknowingly put on the table and becomes a delicious meal for people to enjoy.

WATER RESOURCE

In 2018, the U.S. nonprofit news organization orb media announced that plastic particles were detected in bottled water from several well-known brands in nine countries, containing an average of 100 microns (about the thickness of a hair) per liter of water. The 11 brands investigated included Evian, Pure Life, aqua and China Wahaha.

Orb Media said, "It's not about a specific brand, but about showing that plastic is everywhere and that plastic has permeated our society, our water and these very basic products that we consume."

FRUITS & VEGETBALES

In July, a study published in the journal Environmental Research by the University of Catania, Italy, shocked everyone again. Researchers detected microplastics in fruits and vegetables from the local vegetable market, including carrots, lettuce, cauliflower, potatoes, apples and pears. Among the fruits, apples had relatively high levels of plastic, while the vegetables were carrots.

This is the first time that microplastics have been found in fruits and vegetables. In the past, it was thought that plastic particles could not enter the pores of vegetable roots. However, the findings show that microplastics can indeed enter the roots of plants through irrigation water and then transfer through the stems to the leaves and fruits.

HONEY & BEER

In 2013, chemists GERD and Elisabeth Liebezeit tested 19 honey samples from five countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico) for "non-pollen particles" and found that 100% of the samples contained microplastics.

The key to solving this problem is the elimination of plastic pellets and the vigorous implementation of a plastics recycling economy.

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If you have any questions about plastic recycling, contact ACERETECH today!