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Microplastic pollution can fuel rise in antibiotic resistance, studies find
Summary
Tiny plastic particles floating around in soil, water, and even our bodies might be doing more than just polluting the environment—new research suggests they could be helping bacteria become harder to kill with antibiotics. That matters because if common infections become resistant to treatment, illnesses we currently consider easy to cure could become much more dangerous and difficult to manage.
Plastic pollution is among the gravest environmental crises facing humanity. Plastic production since 1950 has exceeded 8,300 million metric tons, with most plastic waste ending up in the environment, affecting wildlife, ecosystem functionality, and human health. Simultaneously, the ability of disease-causing bacteria to withstand one or more antibiotics (known as antimicrobial resistance, or AMR) has […]