Microplastics
Tiny plastic particles, typically smaller than five millimeters, found throughout the world's oceans, soil, and air.
Definition
Microplastics are small plastic fragments that result from the breakdown of larger plastic debris, or that are manufactured intentionally, such as microbeads once common in cosmetics. They have been detected in ocean water at every depth, in soil, in drinking water, and in the tissue of marine animals and humans.
Because plastic doesn't biodegrade the way organic material does, it breaks into progressively smaller pieces over time rather than disappearing, meaning microplastic contamination will persist in the environment for decades even if new plastic pollution stopped today.
In Practice
Synthetic clothing sheds thousands of microplastic fibers every time it's washed, which then travel through wastewater systems and often end up in rivers and oceans.