{"id":15586,"title":"Microplastics: Why YOU should care about them","description":"MICROPLASTICS: Learn how plastic is destroying our oceans. With over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. It's in the animals, our food and now, even in us.","content":"<h2><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/waiyz3znooxgdkikgbq0ryn9y4wxiks32n2demaj7tjax5as.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"87319301\" \/>MICROPLASTICS: Why YOU should care about them<\/h2><p>Unfortunately, we all live in an ever-increasing plastic planet. In fact, we have been using more and more plastic since the 1950s. Although plastic is beneficial for the medical industry and other occasions when safety is a priority, our society has gone to the extreme. Today just about everything we purchase is either made of plastic or contains some degree of plastic, or shipped in a plastic package. Look Around - Plastic is everywhere!<\/p><p>Now tiny pieces of degraded plastic, synthetic fibers and plastic beads, collectively called microplastics, have turned up in every corner of the planet - including the ocean. The ocean currently contains over 5 trillion pieces of plastic!<\/p><h3>What are microplastics?<\/h3><p>Microplastics are any plastic that is less than 5mm in size. So, about the size of a sesame seed or smaller.<\/p><p>Videos to help you understand better what are micro plastics<\/p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YUtNE5nAV44\/?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;vq=highres\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><p><\/p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_tKnodpqXEY\/?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;vq=highres\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><p><strong>They are Typically Split into 2 Categories:<\/strong><\/p><p>Primary microplastics are those that are manufactured to be less than 5mm, sometimes for use in cosmetics or as nurdles that will be melted down to make larger plastic products. This category also includes microfibres from clothes and car waste e.g. small plastics shed from tyres while driving, as these are already micro when entering the environment.<\/p><p>Secondary microplastics are formed when larger plastics breakdown in the environment. This happens over time as the plastic is exposed to heat, sun and other factors that degrade the plastic and cause it to breakup into smaller pieces.<\/p><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/qqbqlheg48hrvrgycjujhjfl77h1j37tsjqlpslk7cngot8z.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"87322063\" \/><br \/>Why should you care about microplastics?<\/h3><p><strong>To put it simply, they're in everything!<\/strong><\/p><p>Under the sea, on the land, in the rain and even in the air we breathe. Basically everywhere scientists have looked for microplastic they have found it (in human poo too)!<\/p><p><strong>They're even in wildlife too!<\/strong><\/p><p>Sure we\u2019ve all heard about marine animals dying with bellies full of plastic, with one whale washing ashore with nearly 100kg of fishing nets and other large plastic items in its stomach.\u00a0<\/p><p>The size of the plastic and its impact is all relative to the size of the animals, makes sense right!? It has been confirmed that for seabirds microplastic can have the same devastating effects.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>\u201cFor seabirds, we have these pieces smaller than 5mm getting stuck in the gut and causing death. And all the very big pieces will break up into smaller ones.\u201d - Lauren Roman, CSIRO oceans &amp; atmosphere<\/em><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/zoxxezs6vfh9xrdlveneuz7ro26zw5nilcrf2vq9sfdt1suk.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"87322378\" \/><br \/><\/p><\/blockquote><h3>Health concerns<\/h3><p><strong>They are toxic!<\/strong><\/p><p>The harmful chemicals used in plastic production (e.g. dyes) can leak out as it breaks down. This could either be directly into animals bodies if they have ingested plastic or out into the environment. Harmful chemicals can also build up on the surface of microplastics (e.g. heavy metals or pesticides). Both the chemicals leaching from and those clinging to microplastics can be ingested and rise through food webs as those chemical-laden animals are eaten by others. This can lead to bioaccumulation of dangerous compounds in predators at the top of the food chain (thats us folks!).<\/p><p><strong>We also ingest them<\/strong><\/p><p>The idea of this might be alarming but unfortunately it's very real. We are doing this at a rather large rate, with unknown consequences. As well as in the fish we eat and the water we drink, microplastics have now been found in fruit and veg too. It\u2019s also in meat and dairy via the water and the food farm animals consume.\u00a0<\/p><p>Plastic bottles of water are particularly concerning given its very nature, with a person who drank only bottled water consuming 130,000 particles per year compared with 4,000 from tap water.<\/p><p>As we said before, it really is everywhere!<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/v8lfmfqaagsnwrvndh0rhir1wuzmitpsm1qy0ew0c1j6xafv.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"87322892\" \/><br \/>At the moment the exact impact of ingesting plastic (whether through food and drink or through inhaling air particles) is unclear. However, there is evidence of its negative impact in other animals, so it definitely requires more investigation and provides yet another reason to lower our plastic usage.\u00a0<\/p><p>Basically we don\u2019t exactly know what impact the plastic in our bodies is having, but overwhelmingly we still buy into plastic as a product \u2013 kind of scary when you think about it!<\/p><h3>How this affects Narked Shark<\/h3><p>With all these issues caused by plastics to our oceans, the animals and even our own health, we have made it a priority at Narked Shark to make everything we provide you to be 100% plastic free. That starts from our clothing: being solely made from natural materials, our prints being exclusively water-based inks and our packaging being made of paper mailers.<\/p><p>We don't want to just give you clothes that promote being good to the ocean, we want that clothing to not harm it either and be made consciously and responsibly for our oceans. It's why we say our clothing is 'done differently'. Made always with the ocean in mind to be the ultimate fashion for ocean lovers.<\/p><p>learn more about all the things we do on this blog:<\/p><p>www.narkedshark.co.uk\/blog\/clothing-done-differently\/<\/p><p><\/p>","urlTitle":"microplastics-why-you-should-care-about-them","url":"\/blog\/microplastics-why-you-should-care-about-them\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/microplastics-why-you-should-care-about-them\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/narkedshark.co.uk\/blog\/microplastics-why-you-should-care-about-them\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1642431492,"updatedAt":1642434769,"publishedAt":1642434769,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":114661,"name":"Narked Shark_2"},"tags":[{"id":1422,"code":"sustainability","name":"Sustainability","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/sustainability\/"},{"id":1423,"code":"renewable","name":"renewable","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/renewable\/"},{"id":1428,"code":"clothing","name":"clothing","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/clothing\/"},{"id":1430,"code":"ethical","name":"ethical","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/ethical\/"},{"id":1483,"code":"plastic","name":"plastic","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/plastic\/"},{"id":1484,"code":"ocean","name":"ocean","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/ocean\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vanb8tasrz8ildo7jylee6lojfglwb33oqshwnrm52vgqvio.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vanb8tasrz8ildo7jylee6lojfglwb33oqshwnrm52vgqvio.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vanb8tasrz8ildo7jylee6lojfglwb33oqshwnrm52vgqvio.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"MICROPLASTICS: why YOU should care about them","metaDescription":"Learn how plastic is destroying our oceans. With over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. It's in the animals, our food and now, even in us.","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":14809,"title":"How we are making Sustainable & Ethical Clothing","url":"\/blog\/clothing-done-differently\/","urlTitle":"clothing-done-differently","division":114661,"description":"Learn all the innovative decisions Narked Shark has made to make fashion as sustainable as possible. 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What are lionfish?Lionfish (sometimes called zebrafish) are carnivorous fish native to the Indo-Pacific, and in more recent decades have become an invasive species in The Atlantic","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yn6gtnttzfroau1pze2knookmbv73342vi184ryltzzheuts.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yn6gtnttzfroau1pze2knookmbv73342vi184ryltzzheuts.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}