May 4, 2022

Brought to you by the Fossil Fuel industry: Microplastics!

Microplastics are products of petrochemicals in oil and gas products. They begin life in commercial forms – plastic bags, straws, clothing fabrics – but once tossed into oceans, they are battered by waves into particle swarms that circulate the globe in ocean currents, trade winds and weather systems.

First noted in the innards of fish and shellfish, these bits are now seen in human blood samples. Dangerous to us? That’s now under investigation by Laura Parker of Nat Geo. And though the science is still unsettled, there is cause for concern for the toxic chemicals these particles carry. People may worry now about getting plastic bits in a meal of shrimp or mussels, she says, but they actually inhale or ingest many more tiny plastic fibers floating in the air around them.

See our Green News on Money Management for one more thing we each can do to fight the battle of fossil fuel pollution.