Microplastics – tiny bits of plastic, smaller than five millimetres long – have found their way to every crevice of the earth, from remote Antarctic ice, all the way to our bloodstreams.
But is this actually a bad thing? Or just a…thing?
And for that matter, how do we know the microplastics are there? A lot of them are too small to see with just eyeballing.
And where do they come from – is it true that our clothes are a major source?
In this episode of Huh? Science Explained, Cosmos Science Journalist Ellen Phiddian investigates the wild world of microplastics.
Read more on microplastics:
- What is a microplastic, and how are they identified?
- Microplastics in Adelaide are 72% textile fibres
- Mapping microplastics on Australian beaches
- Ocean microplastics captured using sound
- Airborne microplastics may be changing our climate
Huh? Science Explained is a LiSTNR production.
Listen to more episodes of Huh? Science Explained
Originally published by Cosmos as You probably have plastic in your blood
Ellen Phiddian
Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a BSc (Honours) in chemistry and science communication, and an MSc in science communication, both from the Australian National University.
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