What are microplastics and where do they come from?

As it turns out, tiny pieces of plastic, less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter, can be found all around us! Called microplastics, they originate from cosmetic products, breakdown of larger plastics, clothing, etc. So, they come from pretty much anything considering that plastic is everywhere!! 

The problem with microplastics is that they can easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in our oceans!! 

It is estimated that there are between 15 and 51 trillion individual pieces of microplastics in the world’s oceans. That amounts to around 93,000 to 296,000 tonnes of plastic in total! This number is more than 500 times the number of stars in our galaxy!!!

As a pollutant, they are harmful to the environment, the animals, and us!