Microplastics are not a specific kind of plastic, but rather any type of plastic fragment. They enter natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, and industrial processes.

It is not a secret, plastics degrade slowly, often over hundreds if not thousands of years. This increases the probability of microplastics being ingested and incorporated into, and accumulated in, the bodies and tissues of many organisms.

In 2014, it was estimated that there are between 15 and 51 trillion individual pieces of microplastic in the world’s oceans, which was estimated to weigh between 93,000 and 236,000 metric tons.

Primary microplastics are small pieces of plastic that are purposefully manufactured. They are used in facial cleansers and cosmetics, or in air blasting technology. In some cases, their use in medicine as vectors for drugs was reported. Secondary microplastics are microplastics that are created from the degradation of larger plastic products once they enter the environment through natural weathering processes. Such sources include water and soda bottles, fishing nets, and plastic bags.

And then you ask yourself, why am I still buying soap and facial/body scrubs containing these little plastics? Well, the answer is simple. You choose to! If you will buy it. They will sell it. So, why are restaurant and shops still letting thousands of these plastics walk out of their door every day? That is also simple, you’re telling them you would rather have micro plastics containing harmful cancer causing chemicals enter your body and alter your tissue, organs, and complete physical makeup OVER having soggy a straw. Just remember, you are only one person in the vast sea of humans, but YOUR choice is what makes the difference.