How and Why Microplastics Invade Our Everyday Lives
Popular Mechanics|May - June 2022
Organizations like the Ocean Cleanup use nets (above) to capture large pieces of trash, but microplastics often slip through. Data from a 2016 study (left) found that fibers made up as much as 71 percent of microplastics that flow into the Great Lakes.
By Kim Hickok
How and Why Microplastics Invade Our Everyday Lives

The abundance of single-use plastic items such as water bottles, grocery bags, and packaging materials has soared since the 1950s. These objects break down into microplastics, or tiny bits of plastic less than 5 millimeters long (less than half the width of your pinky fingernail), which are now ubiquitous.

No one knows exactly how much microplastic has made it into the environment, but in 2021, an international team of multidisciplinary scientists estimated that there were 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastics in the world's upper oceans alone, or the equivalent of roughly 30 billion plastic water bottles.

Because of their minute size, microplastics aren't easy to track. For many years, researchers assumed these tiny bits of trash entered rivers, where they were carried downstream to the ocean in a relatively short amount of time. But that's not actually the case. According to a new study published in Science Advances, it's estimated that microplastics may remain in rivers for more than 300 years before entering the ocean. This means the microplastics in rivers have much greater potential to cause harm to humans and the environment than scientists previously thought.

This story is from the May - June 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May - June 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM POPULAR MECHANICSView All
Cutting the Cord
Popular Mechanics US

Cutting the Cord

THE HANDHELD CIRCULAR SAW IS PERHAPS THE MOST VERSAtile power tool for cutting wood.

time-read
2 mins  |
March - April 2024
BUILDING COLLAPSES IN U.S. HISTORY
Popular Mechanics US

BUILDING COLLAPSES IN U.S. HISTORY

THE CASCADING FAILURES BEHIND ONE OF THE WORST

time-read
8 mins  |
March - April 2024
How Three Amateurs Solved the Zodiac Killer's '340' Cipher
Popular Mechanics US

How Three Amateurs Solved the Zodiac Killer's '340' Cipher

The mysterious code stumped the FBI and NSA for 53 years. What does the key, and the resulting solution, tell us about the infamous murderer?

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
POPULAR MECHANICS TOP AWARDS 2024
Popular Mechanics US

POPULAR MECHANICS TOP AWARDS 2024

For more than 120 years, Popular Mechanics has been a heavy-duty brand. We see no reason to change that now.

time-read
6 mins  |
March - April 2024
How This Particle Could Break Our Understanding of Reality
Popular Mechanics US

How This Particle Could Break Our Understanding of Reality

EINSTEIN'S SPECIAL THEORY OF relativity teaches us that nothing can accelerate past the speed of light. But what if, when you were born, you were already moving faster than light? What would that look like?

time-read
3 mins  |
March - April 2024
The Right Way to Use a Fire Extinguisher
Popular Mechanics US

The Right Way to Use a Fire Extinguisher

A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS MORE THAN A of one 5-gallon bucket becomes the size of 64 burning buckets. Just 180 seconds after it begins, a fire can be transformed from a nuisance to a room-size, life-threatening inferno.

time-read
2 mins  |
March - April 2024
How the World's Largest Spherical Structure Was Built
Popular Mechanics US

How the World's Largest Spherical Structure Was Built

THE SHINY, NEW LAS VEGAS SPHERE IS more than just a 17,600-seat amphitheaterstyle venue hosting a U2 residency. Since its opening in September 2023, it's become the world's largest spherical structure, at 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall.

time-read
2 mins  |
March - April 2024
The Army's Drone-Killing Laser Weapon
Popular Mechanics US

The Army's Drone-Killing Laser Weapon

THE U.S. ARMY FIELDED ITS FIRST LASERweapon-equipped unit in October. Based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the unit took possession of four laser-equipped Stryker infantry combat vehicles, each mounting a 50-kilowatt-class laser-weapon system. The combination of Stryker and laser can down both artillery, such as mortars and rockets, and drones in-flight.

time-read
3 mins  |
March - April 2024
Why It's So Hard to Mine the World's Largest Lithium Deposit
Popular Mechanics US

Why It's So Hard to Mine the World's Largest Lithium Deposit

A Pass, or Peehee Mu'huh to the local Paiute people has been mined since the 1970s, so the new analysis merely confirms what locals have long known about the area.

time-read
2 mins  |
March - April 2024
WHAT THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL X-RAY LASER WILL DO FOR SCIENCE
Popular Mechanics US

WHAT THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL X-RAY LASER WILL DO FOR SCIENCE

DEEP UNDER MENLO PARK, California, there is a threemile-long machine operating in a tunnel that scientists are keeping colder than even some of the deepest reaches of space.

time-read
3 mins  |
March - April 2024