Microplastics

 

JEFFREY ST. CLAIR 

+ According to a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, microplastics have been detected for the first time in the hearts of humans undergoing cardiac surgery.

+ More than 90 percent of water samples taken from the Great Lakes show harmful levels of microplastics.  The Great Lakes provide drinking water to more than 40 million people in the US and Canada, harbor nearly 90% of the US’s freshwater, and provide aquatic habitat to around 3,500 species of plants and animals.

+ Every year, around 7 trillion pieces of microplastics are washed by rainfall into into San Francisco Bay, a large percentage of it consisting of tire particles left behind on streets—about 300 times greater than what is shedded from polyester clothes, microbeads from beauty products and other particles that go down the drain in kitchens and bathrooms.