Fionn Ferreira: Microplastics are even worse than we believed — it's time to act

Tiny plastic particles increase antibiotic resistance and pose a dire threat to ecological and human health. It’s time to act

Microplastics are not merely unsightly pollutants; they pose profound threats to the fundamental processes underpinning life itself and exacerbate global health crises.

Microplastics, tiny plastic particles smaller than 5mm, are pervasive in every corner of our environment, from pristine mountain streams to the deepest oceans. While public attention has mostly focused on their visible harm to wildlife, recent studies have revealed alarming, less obvious consequences. Microplastics significantly impact critical natural processes like photosynthesis and amplify the spread of antibiotic resistance, posing a dire threat to both ecological and human health.

Photosynthesis, the very backbone of life on earth, is now demonstrably compromised by microplastics. Recent research indicates that these microscopic pollutants obstruct sunlight and physically interfere with photosynthetic organisms, such as algae and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton alone produce approximately half of Earth's oxygen and form the foundational link of marine food webs. Any disruption to their productivity cascades throughout marine ecosystems and ultimately impacts global climate regulation.