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Scientists reviewed 7,000 studies on microplastics. Their alarming conclusion puts humanity on notice
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Researchers synthesized findings from 7,000 studies on microplastic contamination, concluding that the evidence base now clearly warrants urgent global action to reduce plastic pollution and mitigate its wide-ranging environmental and human health consequences.
Global action is urgently needed to tackle microplastic – and the problem has never been more pressing.
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Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems
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Researchers found that patients with microplastic particles lodged in carotid artery plaque had significantly higher rates of heart attack, stroke, and death over a three-year follow-up period, providing some of the first direct clinical evidence linking microplastic accumulation to serious cardiovascular events.
Study links microplastics with human health problems – but there’s still a lot we don’t know
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Researchers highlight a study linking microplastic exposure to human health problems, noting that plastics from everyday products like packaging, clothing, and toys shed particles that accumulate in the body, while emphasizing that significant scientific uncertainty remains about the nature and severity of health effects.
Millions of tonnes of nanoplastics are polluting the ocean
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Researchers highlight that millions of tonnes of nanoplastics smaller than a human hair are polluting the ocean, with these particles capable of passing through cell walls and entering the marine food web with poorly understood consequences.
Scientists Reviewed 7,000 Studies on Microplastics.
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This review article summarizes a comprehensive evaluation of 7,000 studies on microplastics compiled 20 years after the term was coined in a landmark Science paper, synthesizing two decades of research on environmental accumulation of microplastic particles and fibres.
Getting a grip on microplastics’ risks
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Researchers and policy experts assessed the current state of microplastic risk evaluation, examining how scientific uncertainty and regulatory gaps complicate efforts to establish safe exposure thresholds and meaningful environmental standards for these pervasive contaminants.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.