Microplastics' Chemical Activity Could Harm Living Organisms
New research from Columbia and UC Berkeley reveals that microplastics are not chemically inert and can generate reactive oxygen species as they fragment. This chemical activity may pose significant health risks to humans and animals by damaging cells.
Why it matters
This study challenges the assumption that plastic fragments are passive, suggesting that the prevalence of microplastics in water and biological systems could have direct, harmful physiological effects.
Plastics are supposed to be chemically inert. It's the reason they're used so frequently to package food, bottle water, and create children's toys: They're safe.
But something important happens when a large piece of plastic fragments into micro- and nanoparticles. Its surface area increases dramatically relative to its volume. Vastly more of the material is now exposed to its surroundings.
A new study by researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, found that this newly created surface is not necessarily safe, and identified the chemical reasons why.
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