The term "microplastics" was introduced in 2004 by Professor Richard Thompson, a marine biologist at the
Microplastics … See more

Most microplastic pollution comes from textiles, tires and city dust which account for over 80% of all microplastic in the environment. The existence of microplastics in the environment is often establishe… See more

The potential risks of microplastic to human health are little understood, and the field is difficult to research because of the potentially long time between exposure to the contaminant and any associated health effect beco… See more

According to a comprehensive review of scientific evidence published by the European Union's Scientific Advice Mechanism in 2019, microplastics are now present in every part of the environment. While ther… See more

Airborne microplastics have been detected in the atmosphere, as well as indoors and outdoors. In 2019 a study found microplastic to be atmospherically transported to remote areas on the wind. A 2017 study … See more

Some researchers have proposed incinerating plastics to use as energy, which is known as energy recovery. As opposed to losing the energy from plastics into the atmosphere in landfills, this process turns som… See more