New Zealand A recent study found that 74 tons of microplastics fall from the air to Auckland every year, equivalent to more than 3 million plastic bottles falling from the sky. These microplastics in the air have become "invisible killers" of human health.
The latest research on environmental pollution from the University of Portsmouth in the UK shows that a Christmas dinner may contain 230,000 microplastic particles. Plastic packaging can effectively retain moisture within the container, but it also brings hidden dangers of ingesting microplastics.
In 2004, research scholar Thompson and others published a paper on plastic fragments in marine water and sediments in the journal Science, first proposing the concept of "microplastics", which refers to plastic fragments and particles less than 5 mm in diameter.
In March 2022, scientists detected microplastic pollution in human blood for the first time. Microplastics widely exist in water, air, soil and other environments, and are vividly called "PM2.5 in water", causing irreversible harm to human health and the natural environment.
Compared with " white pollution " plastics, the harm of microplastics is reflected in the small diameter of their particles. This is the reason why they are more harmful to the environment than ordinary non-degradable plastics.
Nowadays, research continues to prove that there are microplastics not only in the ocean, but also in the environment in which we live and in the human body.
Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand used complex chemical methods to collect microplastics in the air through containers on campus rooftops and residential gardens. Since microplastics are invisible to the naked eye, they identified it by luminescent colored dyes and analyzed its quality with the help of heat treatments.
(Microplastics are visible after application combustion)
During the nine-week study, researchers found an average of 4,885 microplastics per square meter of air in Auckland every day, which is much higher than the levels of air microplastics in London, UK, Hamburg, Germany, and Paris, France.
Among the microplastics detected in this study, the largest number was polyethylene (PE), followed by polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyethylene and PET are common in packaging materials, while PC is common in electrical and electronic fields. These three categories of substances are also commonly used in the construction industry.
Microplastics have been closely linked to human production and life. What we can do is to avoid ingesting microplastics as much as possible, reduce or even refuse to use plastic products. Rejection is the beginning of protection.
With the widespread use of plastic products in human life and work, the trend of "microplastics" harming human health is inevitable. Humans at the top of the food chain will accumulate a large amount of microplastics in their bodies due to enrichment. These small particles that are difficult to digest cause unpredictable harm to human health.
After microplastics are ingested through breathing, smaller microplastics may penetrate deep into the lungs. Microplastics in the blood become the "core" of blood clots. With these microplastics, it is easy to form microthrombi. These microthrombi continue to grow and aggregate with each other, constantly attracting other particles in the blood, causing the thrombus to gradually increase, and eventually block the blood vessels .
(Plastic fragments attached to the skin)
Microplastics can enter the human body through food, breathing or skin contact. The plastic itself can filter out toxic chemicals. The accumulated microplastics in the human body travel throughout the body and can cause headaches and dizziness, vision loss, gastrointestinal discomfort and many other symptoms, and even cause infertility, liver dysfunction and respiratory failure .
reported data shows that infants are hardest hit by the ingestion of microplastics. “The content of microplastics in infants’ stool is 20 times that of adults.”
Commonly used baby bottles, plastic food bowls, etc., will release microplastics during unreasonable use. For example, at high temperatures, high temperatures will activate and promote the release of microplastics.
In addition, plastics in toys, clothing and other supplies are also very easy to be chewed and swallowed by babies, which makes them more exposed to the plastic environment.
The difficulty of degrading plastic is the root cause of pollution, so reducing the use of plastics is a drop in the bucket and cannot reverse plastic pollution . However, my country has proposed a "replacing plastic with bamboo" plan, which can solve the problem of plastic pollution from the source.
In recent years, our country has increased research and development efforts in the bamboo industry and actively promoted "replacing wood with bamboo", "replacing bamboo with plastic", "replacing steel with bamboo", etc., which have achieved considerable results and accelerated the pace towards the dual-carbon goal.
The company will also explore the new trend of bamboo industry innovation , encourage young people to travel green and live green, and allow more diverse and innovative bamboo industry sustainable measures to take root. "Replace plastic with bamboo, live greenly" Sustainable development is not only a corporate responsibility, but also the future lifestyle .
(The company’s 2021 “Bamboo Replaces Plastic” Project Signing Ceremony)
Xingwen Bamboo Products insists on holding high the banner of “Bamboo Replaces Plastic”, promotes the refined research and development of the bamboo industry, and injects new development momentum into the Xingwen County bamboo industry; Highlight the development advantages of "replacing plastic with bamboo", enhance the cultural soft power of Xingwen Bamboo Industry, further expand the influence and popularity of Xingwen Bamboo Township culture, and create an "innovative capital of bamboo daily necessities".
