Scientists reviewed 7,000 studies on microplastics. Their alarming conclusion puts humanity on notice

By Karen Raubenheimer, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong

It’s been 20 years since a paper in the journal Science showed the environmental accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres. It named the particles “microplastics”.

The paper opened an entire research field. Since then, more than 7,000 published studies have shown the prevalence of microplastics in the environment, in wildlife and in the human body.

So what have we learned? In a paper released today, an international group of experts,…

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