MICROPLASTICS: Focus on Food and Health

Abstract

Every year worldwide, more than 300 million tons of plastics are produced, half of which is designed for single use, and each year, at least 8 million tons end up in our oceans. These plastics break down with the intervention of microbes into carbon dioxide, methane and water, but this process is temperature dependent and readily occurs in the marine environment. Furthermore, the polymers most commonly used (e.g. PE, PP, PVC) are not readily biodegradable; they are subjected to weathering and fragmenting into micro- and nano-plastics and remain in the environment for hundreds of years. These small particles of plastic can be ingested by zooplankton, invertebrates and small fish, entering this way in the food-chain.