Microplastics Are a 'Big Time Bomb,' Says Researcher Who Found That 57 Million Tons of Plastic Are Produced Annually

About 57 million tons of plastic pollution are dumped on the planet annually, researchers say.

Researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom say pollution-induced microplastics are far-reaching, even finding their way into the human body, ABC News reported on Wednesday, September 4th.

NOAA’s National Ocean Service defines microplastics as “small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in size that can be harmful to our oceans and aquatic life.”

Microplastics research, conceptual image.

MICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENTIFIC PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty

Researchers from the University of Leeds published their findings in the journal Nature. They found that the pollution, which amounts to 52 million metric tons, is enough to fill Central Park in New York with plastic waste as high as the Empire State Building.

Ahead of Wednesday’s discovery, Sedat Gündoğdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey, said: “It is now imperative to declare a global emergency.” The Guard he reported at the end of August.

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“Studies have found tiny debris and pieces of plastic in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow,” The Guard added.

Building on previous research, a study published in the journal on Wednesday found that Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are the countries that produce the most plastic waste.

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India produces the most plastic pollution annually, approximately 10.2 million tons, or one-fifth of the global total.

In terms of cities, Leeds professor of environmental engineering Costas Velis cited Lagos, Nigeria as the biggest generator of plastic pollution.

“The big ticking time bomb of microplastics is this microplastic that’s mostly released in the global south,” Velis said. “We already have a big dispersion problem. They are in the most remote places … the peaks of Everest, in the Mariana Trench in the ocean, in what we breathe and what we eat and what we drink.”

Stock image of microplastics.

Getty

China ranked fourth among countries, although Velis noted that they are doing an incredible job of reducing plastic waste. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and Brazil were also listed as the top polluting countries.

The study also ranked countries that scored low in pollution emissions, with the United States ranking 90th in plastic pollution at more than 52,500 tons (47,600 metric tons). The United Kingdom currently ranks 135th with nearly 5,100 tons (4,600 metric tons).

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According to Velis, continuous pollution is “everyone’s problem”.

“We shouldn’t put the blame, no blame, on the global south,” said the environmental engineering professor. “And we shouldn’t brag in any way about what we’re doing in the global north.”

Neil Tangri, senior director of science and policy at GAIA, an agency that advocates for zero waste and environmental justice initiatives, said that while better waste management is “necessary,” it’s “not the whole story,” ABC News reported .

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education