Nanoplastics: Wreaking Havoc in the Body
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Plastic products have become a necessary part of our day-to-day lives. They are useful because they are incredibly stable and durable, but what are the consequences? Nanoplastics are small pieces of plastic, from 1000 nm to 1 nm, that are either formed in factories or from the degradation of everyday plastic items. Their small size allows them to contaminate our food and water sources and their stability makes them difficult to eliminate. Nanoplastics can interact with the body at a subcellular or molecular level, which allows them to enter the bloodstream and interact with hemoglobin. Nanoplastics have been shown to have negative effects on climate change, such as increased CO2 levels, and various effects on animals, such as decreased reproductivity. The effects on humans need further research but there is a correlation between nanoplastics and the development of Parkinson’s disease. While nanoplastics are bad for the environment and difficult to eliminate, newer research is promising as it reveals that limestone-quartz sand is effective at removing over 90% of nanoplastics from contaminated water.
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http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6670
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en