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Persuasive Essay On Plastic Pollution

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Over 8 million tons of plastic enter the sea every year according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. That is similar to over 8 million bear-sized piles of trash being polluted into open waters each year. Sources of plastic pollution are strictly from humans from littering, and improper trash removal. Fines are given to people who litter. Companies have laws to follow that are supposed to ensure proper removal of waste. However, the actions being used to solve the problem are not doing enough. Plastic is still continuously filling the water at increasing rates year and every year and by every single country. As more countries develop, more plastic is poured into the oceans. Due to human pollution, the marine ecosystem is …show more content…

A microplastic, by definition, is a piece of plastic that is smaller than 5 mm, or the size of a pencil eraser. In just half a mile, it was recorded that scientists collected “750,000 bits of micro plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, an area in the Pacific Ocean where gyres have caused pollution to gather over the years (“Great Pacific Garbage Patch”). Just in a single area most of the plastic is so tiny the eye can hardly see it and the water is just seen as cloudy. As for the ocean as a whole, researchers for the EPA have estimated that 90% of the plastic pollution that is circulating in the ocean is microplastic (“Toxicological Threats of Plastic”). An ocean filling with smaller and smaller pieces of plastic raises concerns. Due to their tiny size, microplastics are the most dangerous plastics to animals and humans. These little pieces make it easier for chemical additives to leak out, leading to toxins releasing into the ocean water. The smaller a piece of plastic gets, the more it loses its protective coating and the toxins inside the plastic are able to escape. Chemical additives in plastic are PBT’s or Persistent Bio-accumulative Toxins. One additive toxin in microplastics is Bisphenol A or BPA, a common chemical in plastic packaging. Throughout time, BPA has polymer chains that slowly break down and release into the water (Andrews). Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane or DDT is another chemical often found in micro plastics. DDT bio accumulates in

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