Microplastics found in human blood

Researchers from Netherlands had found Microplastic constituents in the human blood for the first time

What are microplastics?

Tiny particles of plastic measuring less than 5mm in diameter is termed as microplastic.
They are one of the major pollutants of land and ocean.

Impacts of microplastic

On Oceans: Microplastics are source of pollution in oceans they accumulate by breaking into small constituent particles and settle down inside the ocean residing inside for many years without degrading.
- According to the IUCN, at least 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year and make up about 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
- As perUNEP, in the last four decades, concentrations of these particles appear to have increased significantly in the surface waters of the ocean.
On marine organisms: Marine organisms such as fish, crabs, prawns consume these minute plastic particles and thus add them to the food chain and leads to bioaccumulation.
On land: Microplastics are major pollutant of land as they leach in the water bodies such as rivers and lakes through soil.
Agriculture and plant health is affected.
On humans: Human health is a matter of concern as plastic is used by us in our day to day routine and unknowingly we are consuming it in the form of microplastics.
Thus it add to human blood and even can accumulate in organs.
A study conducted by the World Wide Fund for Naturerevealed that an average person consumed 5 grams of plastic.

Initiatives taken against microplastics

Global initiatives: Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML): The GMPL was launched at the Earth Summit in 2012 in response to a request set out in the Manila Declaration.
- Under the Manila Declaration, 65 signatories reaffirmed their commitment to develop policies to reduce and control wastewater, marine litter and pollution from fertilizers.
Elimination of single use plastic in India: the use of single use plastic has been banned by the prime minister in 2019.
- This has made awareness about the health hazards of thin plastic by us in daily life.
Plastic waste management rules, 2016 state that every local body has to be responsible for setting up infrastructure for segregation, collection, processing, and disposal of plastic waste.