Microplastics are everywhere. Snow close to the peak of Mount Everest was found to contain on average 30 microplastic particles per litre. And 11,000m below sea level, in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, an average of 2,200 microplastic particles per litre of sediment were found.
Microplastics are bits of plastic smaller than 5mm in diameter. They come from a range of sources including toiletries, cosmetics, fibres from washing our clothes, plus a range of other routes, such as road paints, tyre wear and fragments of litter. Scientific reports are showing astounding amounts of these plastics globally, including in remote areas, but those numbers have been significantly underestimated.
