DIRTY DOZEN AND TWO MORE: 14 PLASTIC POLLUTION FACTS
1
WE HAVE PRODUCED MORE PLASTIC IN THE LAST 10 YEARS THAN IN THE WHOLE OF THE LAST CENTURY, AND WE ARE STILL DOING IT.
2
8 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC WASTE ENTERS THE WATERWAYS FROM THE LAND EVERY YEAR.
3
LESS THAN 5% OF THE PLASTICS PRODUCED IS BEING RECYCLED WORLDWIDE. ALMOST EVERY PIECE OF PLASTIC THAT WAS EVER MADE STILL EXISTS.
4
CURRENTLY THE BIGGEST OF SEVERAL AREAS OF PLASTIC WASTE FLOATING IN OUR OCEANS, CALLED THE PLASTIC SOUP, IS THE SIZE OF FRANCE.
5
VARIOUS FORMS OF PLASTIC WASTE CONSTITUTE FOR APPROXIMATELY 90% OF ALL THE TRASH IN THE OCEAN.
6
PLASTIC BAGS ARE USED FOR AN AVERAGE OF 12 MINUTES. A SINGLE PLASTIC BAG HAS A LIFE EXPECTANCY UP TO 1,000 YEARS IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
7
FOAMED PLASTIC CUPS: 50 YEARS; DISPOSABLE DIAPERS: 450 YEARS; PLASTIC BOTTLE: 450 YEARS; FISHING LINE: 600 YEARS; CIGARETTE FILTER: 10 YEARS…
8
DURING THE DECOMPOSITION PERIOD PLASTIC PARTICLES GET FROM ITS ORIGINAL FORM TO MACROPLASTICS, MICROPLASTICS AND NANOPLASTIC PARTICLES MUCH LESS THAN 100 nm IN SIZE, SMALLER THEN ALGAL CELLS.
9
PLASTIC DEBRIS HAS THE ABILITY TO ADSORB OTHER POLLUTANTS IN THE OCEANS ENVIRONMENT, ESSENTIALLY ACTING AS SPONGES FOR POLLUTION (CHEMICALS, HORMONE DISRUPTORS, ETC.). PLASTIC RELEASES HARD METALS AND CHEMICALS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT.
10
ONE MILLION SEA BIRDS AND 100,000 MARINE MAMMALS ARE KILLED ANNUALLY FROM PLASTICS IN OUR OCEANS, MOSTLY THROUGH INGESTION, ENTANGLEMENT OR SUFFOCATION.
11
PLASTIC-RELATED CHEMICALS CAN ENTER OUR BODY THROUGH INGESTION OR BE ABSORBED FROM THE WATER THROUGH OUR SKIN.
12
OVER 90 % OF US TEST POSITIVE FOR BPA (BISPHENOL, A PLASTIC CHEMICAL AND HORMONE DISRUPTER).
13
OVER 70% OF TAP WATER IN EUROPE CONTAINS MICROPLASTICS. IT HAS ALSO BEEN FOUND IN BEER, HONEY, SUGAR, SALT, EVEN IN RAINDROPS.
14
RECENT RESEARCH CARRIED OUT IN THE NATURE PARK TELAŠČICA, CROATIA BY BLAŠKOVIĆ et all. REVEALED THAT MICROPLASTICS HAS BEEN FOUND IN 88% OF THE SEDIMENT SAMPLES.
Source:
Greenpeace – Mediterranean filled with plastic, 2017 (language: Croatian)
