NewScientist (28 March 2020) reports on the latest findings concerning microplastics, about which we know little, including their effects on our health:
Tiny pieces of plastic that pollute the environment can be produced by simply opening a plastic bottle or tearing a food wrapper. …
[Cheng Fang at the University of Newcastle, Australia] and his colleagues tested whether everyday activities could release microplastics. They opened common plastic items such as bags, bottles and packaging film by twisting the bottle cap or tearing the bag, for example, or by cutting them with scissors or a knife, which deforms and fractures the plastic.
The team used a scale that is sensitive to weights as low as one nanogram to collect and measure the microplastics that landed on its surface. Between about 10 and 30 nanograms of microplastic were released from opening the plastic items, which amounts to between 14,000 and 75,000 individual microplastic particles. But the team says that the true amount released is probably even higher, because many microplastics are statically charged and remain in the air.
Not a good finding at all. Or very good. My first inclination is to suggest we return to glass, returnable bottles with aluminum twist caps. But I don’t know how much impact glass bottles would have on natural resources. I know sand for silicon is becoming a little scarce. How about bottles?
