Plastic pollution involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro-, meso-, or macro debris, based on size. The prominence of plastic pollution is correlated with plastics being inexpensive and durable, which leads to high levels of plastics used by humans. However, it is slow to degrade.
Plastic pollution can unfavorably affect lands, waterways, and oceans. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can also be affected through entanglement, direct ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that cause interruptions in biological functions.
Nanoplastic pollution
Nanoplastic pollution is a big factor for environmental degradation and this infographic will help you understand better –
It has often been suggested that plastic particles in the <100 nm size range, as defined earlier for nanomaterials (here referred to as ‘nanoplastics‘), may be emitted to or formed in the aquatic environment. Nanoplastics is probably the least known area of the marine litter but potentially also the most hazardous.
