Understanding the Complexity of Microplastics and Their Impact on Health and the Environment

With every breath you take, you could be inhaling microplastics. Today, we talk about where they come from, how they impact our health and what we can do to avoid them in our daily lives.

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For years, scientists on the hunt for microplastics have found them almost everywhere. First, they spotted tiny pieces of plastic in the ocean, in the bodies of fish and mussels. Then they found them in soft drinks, in tap water, in vegetables and fruits, in burgers.

Now researchers are discovering that microplastics are floating around us, suspended in the air on city streets and inside homes. One study found that people inhale or ingest on average 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles per year through breathing, eating and drinking.

Today on “Post Reports,” climate reporter Shannon Osaka answers host Elahe Izadi’s questions about these plastic particles that humans are taking in in much larger quantities than previously thought. And she gives some advice on how to get microplastics out of our lives as much as possible. 

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. 

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