Nowadays, the use of plastics has deeply increased because people cannot go outside due to COVID-19, and they use delivery a lot. Plastics are one of the common things around us. They are used in clothes, bags and many things. These plastics become smaller and smaller by corroding, and they are called "microplastics". However, most people do not know that they are intaking a lot of microplastics every day, and microplastics can cause problems to the environment and to our bodies.
Microplastics are too small to be filtered in the sewage treatment system, so they are floating in the river and in the ocean. As they are too small to be filtered, we are intaking them while we are drinking water. And, the more shocking fact is that microplastics are airborne. It means they are entering our body while inhaling, and we are intaking them every time. Moreover, it is almost impossible to collect them. These microplastics may cause genetic damage to our ecosystem and severe diseases such as necrosis and histological inflammation.
As microplastics are almost impossible to collect, many people and campaigns strive hard to decrease the number of microplastics. For example, there was an ice pack recycling campaign in July 2020 and a plastic zero campaign. In the ice pack recycling campaign, they are trying to reduce the amount of microplastic garbage by reusing ice packs. Also, many people are trying to use alternative stuff and not to use disposable stuff.
The rising amount of microplastics is one of the most serious problems today. Microplastics may cause a serious problem not only in the environment but also in our bodies. Although there is no way to collect microplastics, we have to reduce the use of plastics. The number of microplastics will be decreased gradually if we reduce using plastics.
By Yun Seoyoung
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