World Environment Day 2025: What are Microplastics and How does it impact the Environment?

World Environment Day, on June 5 of every year, is the world's largest platform for action and awareness regarding the environment, coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 1973. This year's host is the Republic of Korea, with the theme - #BeatPlasticPollution. The campaign for this year calls for an end to plastic pollution through concerted action, underlining the requirement for system change at government, industry, and community levels.

The Theme: #BeatPlasticPollution

Plastic pollution is a global ecological threat. Plastics have entered every corner of the world, from the bottom of oceans to the food we consume and the liquid we drink. The theme for this year, #BeatPlasticPollution, shows the growing crisis and the necessity for immediate solutions. Plastic pollution widens the triple planetary crisis: climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. 

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What Are Microplastics?

Microplastics are little fragments of plastic from 1 nanometre to 5 millimetres in size. They have two sources:

Primary microplastics: Created small, for instance, microbeads in cosmetics.

Secondary microplastics: Secondary microplastics are generated as aconsequence of the breakdown of bigger pieces of plastic like bottles, bags, clothing, and tyres over a period.

These microplastics are now ubiquitous - from the ocean floorandArctic sea ice to the air we breathe and even inside human bodies.

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How Do Microplastics Harm the Environment?

Microplastics do incredibly damage decimating ecosystems and human health:

Environmental Impact:

• Microplastics are deposited in oceans, rivers, and soils and poison aquatic and terrestrial life.
• They may disrupt marine food chains and prevent the growth of algae, a critical bottom-up support of aquatic ecosystems.
• Microplastics have been found to accelerate melting of snow and ice in polar regions, reducing the planet's ability to reflect sunlight and accelerating global warming.

Human Health Risks:

• Microplastics have been found in drinking water, food, and even human organs.
• They can be laced with poisonous chemicals and heavy metals that have negative long-term health effects, such as carcinogens.
• Studies on animals show microplastics deposit in organs such as the liver, lungs, and even pass through the blood-brain barrier.

Plastic Pollution: Key Facts

• Only 9% of plastics ever produced are in use today and being recycled.
• About 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow into the world's oceans every year.
• India contributes to approximately 9 million tons of plastic waste annually, which is nearly one-fifth of global production.

Microplastics have been found in a very wide variety of foods, drinking water, and even airborne particles.

Ways to Cut Down Microplastics

To minimize microplastic pollution, both systemic and individual actions are required:

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink plastic use.

• Support and implement policies that promote a circular plastics economy—prodigiondesign for recycling and reuse.
• Avoid products with microbeads and opt for natural ingredients in personal care products.
• Employ reusable containers, bottles, and bags instead of single-use plastics.
• Sort and recycle plastic waste correctly to prevent environmental leakage.
• Support global efforts and agreements to block plastic pollution.

World Environment Day 2025's focus on #BeatPlasticPollution is a call to action by everyone—governments, businesses, and individuals—to assist in combating one of the greatest environmental challenges of our times. Microplastics, no matter how tiny, cause an enormous amount of harm to the environment and human well-being. Acting together to embrace sustainable practices, to promote policy changes, and to make conscious choices as consumers, we can reduce microplastic pollution and create a healthier, more sustainable world.

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