Microplastics are all over the news lately. Actually, these plastic bits 0.2 inches (5 mm) wide or smaller are all over everything— from our food to the insides of animals, and especially in the oceans.
Most plastic is non-biodegradable. When something biodegradable breaks down, it chemically changes into new substances. Bacteria and other microbes will digest a banana peel over a few weeks until it becomes soil. By contrast, plastic stays plastic forever. But it can still physically break into smaller pieces. This happens fastest outside, because the ultraviolet light in sunlight weakens and cracks plastic. Eventually, it breaks into smaller pieces. There’s no limit to how small those pieces can get, and that’s how we end up with microplastics. Bigger microplastics might look like individual grains of dust, just barely big enough to see with your eyes. Others are invisible without a microscope. These may be the size of human blood cells, or even around 10 times smaller than that, which is the size of some viruses!
So why all the attention? Microplastics are a newly discovered pollutant, and scientists around the world are worried that they can hurt animals and spread chemical pollutants around.
Problems for Animals Periodically, big sea animals like turtles or whales accidentally eat plastic debris. Similarly, very small animals in the ocean called zooplankton sometimes eat microplastics. To them, a piece of plastic might smell and taste good, because chemicals that smell like their normal food form on the surface of microplastics. But these critters can’t digest plastic, so one of two things happens. Hopefully, the plastic goes right through the zooplankton unchanged and, ahem, comes out the other end. But if a jagged piece of plastic gets stuck inside their guts, it can hurt or even kill them.
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Mars Rock Found With Leopard Spots Could Be a Sign of Ancient Life
IN JULY, NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER CAME ACROSS A SPOTTED ROCK IN WHAT WAS ONCE A RIVERBED IN THE JEZERO CRATER ON MARS.
Para Athlete Uses Exoskeleton Suit to Carry the Olympic Torch
In July, a 36-year-old French tennis para athlete, Kevin Piette, got a chance to participate in this summer’s Olympic torch relay without using a wheelchair.
Ancient Egyptians May Have Used a Water System to Lift Stones to Build Pyramid
HOW ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BUILT THE MASSIVE PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT MORE THAN 4,000 YEARS AGO HAS LONG BEEN A TOPIC OF WONDER AND DEBATE.
Seals Can Make Big Dives Thanks to Their Big Hearts
SEALS AND SEA LIONS, WHICH ARE SEMI-AQUATIC MAMMALS, CAN HOLD THEIR BREATHS UNDERWATER FOR ESPECIALLY LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
THE BIG-CITY LIFE OF STEVEN J.BIKE SHOP RABBIT IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Bicycle Roots is a full-service bike shop. It's in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. Joe Lawler is the co-owner and service manager. Perhaps more important, he's \"dad\" to the shop's most popular employee. That's Steven J. Lawler.
Wild Ones
WHAT FACTORS DRIVE PEOPLE TO BUY MONKEYS, TIGERS, AND OTHER WILD ANIMALS?
HOW TO CONQUER THE WORLD
A brief history
What would happen if meteors hit Earth?
You may have seen Ameteors fly into Earth's atmosphere, in the form of shooting stars.
WORKING WORMS
DON'T JUST THROW THOSE TABLE SCRAPS AWAY! LET A BOX OF WORMS TURN THEM INTO SOMETHING USEFUL.
Dog Rescue Saves Lives
THE ARGUMENT FOR ADOPTING A NO-KILL GOAL