The rapid development of the plastics industry has made plastic products an indispensable part of our daily lives. However, with the widespread use of plastic products, plastic waste has gradually accumulated, leading to the aggravation of environmental problems.

Microplastics, which may come from the decomposition of plastic products, washing, wear and tear, and other processes. The scientific community is conducting in-depth research on the effects of microplastics on the human body.

In 2004, Thompson and other researchers from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom published a paper in the journal Science, introducing for the first time the concept of "microplastics" and exploring the problem of plastic debris in marine waters and sediments.

Alarmingly, the researchers found traces of microplastics not only in human blood, but even in fetuses, embryos and amniotic membranes, a finding that has caused widespread concern and alarm.

It has also been found that the human body eats 5 grams of microplastics per week, the equivalent of a bank card. Christopher Zangmeister's team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted a study to investigate the sources and release of microplastics.

The results of the study showed that trillions of plastic nanoparticles per liter of water could be detected after pouring 100°C water into an ordinary takeaway coffee cup and letting it sit for 20 minutes. This means that in 500 milliliters of hot coffee or hot milk tea, about 500 billion plastic nanoparticles may be ingested.

Microplastics come from a variety of sources and can be categorized into two main groups:

One is microplastics from land-based sources, which can be categorized into two main types.

First, there are "primary" microplastics, which are manufactured to meet industrial needs and are commonly found in cosmetics, friction agents in cleaning products such as toothpaste and exfoliating creams, as well as in textiles and fibrous garments, which are discharged into rivers and other bodies of water through wastewater treatment plants.

Secondly, there are "secondary" microplastics, which originate from the physical, chemical and biological processes of large-scale plastic waste, and are formed as plastic particles after splitting and reducing in size, and which can flow directly into the ocean from the coastline, or enter the ocean through rivers and sewage pipes.

Second, microplastics from the ocean.

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) points out that the distribution of plastic particles in the environment is becoming more widespread, and that the presence of plastic particles can be detected even in seabed sediments at a depth of 5,000 meters. These microplastics mainly originate from the marine environment, including those imported into the oceans from land-based sources, as well as those formed as a result of the gradual decomposition of plastic waste in the oceans.

In addition, researchers have found that daily meals may also be contaminated with microplastics, including drinking water, fish, shellfish, salt, fruits and vegetables, raw meat, sugar, and dairy products.