这个标题让你想到了什么？每天都喝的塑料瓶装饮用水？随处可见的塑料手提袋？小宝宝用的塑料奶瓶？外卖普遍使用的塑料餐盒？这么一想，你会发现我们日常几乎被塑料制品包围了。所以，塑料大家都不陌生。

What does this headline make you think of? Plastic bottles that you use every day? Plastic handbags available everywhere? Plastic baby bottles? Plastic lunch boxes commonly used for takeout? When you think about it, you realize that plastic products surround us daily. They are no stranger to us .
“微塑料”是什么？顾名思义，就是微小的塑料，是指直径小于5毫米的塑料碎片和颗粒，“微塑料”的概念最早是在2004年被英国普利茅斯大学的汤普森等人提出。当时是因为广泛存在于海洋环境，且对生物产生多种不确定的危害而备受社会关注。

But what are "microplastics?" Its name is quite self-explanatory , being one kind of plastic with a diameter of less than 5 millimeters. The concept of "microplastics" was first proposed by Thompson et al. at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom in 2004. At that time, microplastics were of great concern to society because of their widespread presence in the marine environment and the uncertain hazards they posed to living things.
                      

2022年3月，荷兰阿姆斯特丹自由大学的研究团队招募了22名健康受试者，通过分析他们的静脉血全血样本后发现，77%（17人）的受试者血液内有可量化的微塑料，每毫升血液内的数值可达到1.6μg，最为常见的包括有PET、PS、PE、PP等塑料制品（跟运动鞋底的材质一样！！！），这也意味着，微塑料或已遍布人体。

In March 2022, a team of researchers from Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands recruited 22 healthy subjects and after analyzing their venous bloodsamples, found that 77% (17) of the subjects had quantifiable microplastics in their blood, with values of up to 1.6 μg per milliliter of blood, the most common of which included plastics such as PET, PS, PE, PP, etc. (the same material as the soles of sneakers!!!), which also meant that microplastics may have spread throughout the human body.                                          

那么问题来了，这么多微塑料从哪儿来？又如何进入到我们的体内？只要不用塑料制品就可以杜绝微塑料进入体内吗？答案却超乎所有人的想象。

微塑料正在用我们想象不到的方式来到我们身边。

So, the question arises, where do these microplastics come from? And how do they get into our bodies? Can we stop microplastics from entering our bodies by not using plastic products? The answer is surprising. Microplastics come to us in ways we could never have imagined.

1、轮胎磨损：

是微塑料最大的来源，每天行驶在路上的各种汽车，靠着轮胎与地面的摩擦风风火火的东奔西跑，殊不知，就是这种摩擦每天贡献了50%的“微塑料”颗粒；

1. tire wear:

Tire wear is the largest source of microplastics. We drive on the road every day in a variety of cars, relying on the friction between the tires and the ground of the wind and fire, unaware that this friction contributes to 50% of the "microplastic" particles.

2、废物处理过程中的释放：

微塑料的第二大来源。在各种可回收或不可回收的废物处理过程中，释放了12%的微塑料进入大气与水循环中。

2. Emissions during the waste disposal process

Emissions during the waste disposal process is the second largest source of microplastics. Twelve percent of microplastics are released into the atmosphere and water cycle while disposing of various recyclable or non-recyclable wastes.

3、磨损沥青

微塑料的第三大来源，沥青的磨损贡献了将近10%的“微塑料”排放。

以上三大来源贡献了72%的微塑料排放量，其他将近30%来自于大家耳熟能详的塑料制品、塑料包装、甚至还有洗衣服造成的纤维磨损。

3. Worn asphalt:

Worn asphalt is the third most significant source of microplastics; abrasive asphalt contributes nearly 10% of "microplastic" emissions. The above three sources contribute 72% of microplastic emissions, with the other 28% coming from familiar plastic products, plastic packaging, and even fiber abrasion from laundry.

那具体生活中有哪些常见的日用品内“携带”微塑料？（前方高能！）

What are the everyday household items that "carry" microplastics?

1、茶包：

加拿大麦吉尔大学研究人员选取了4款市面上常见的袋泡茶，将茶包内的茶叶倒出后单独用热水浸泡茶包五分钟。结果发现，茶包在浸泡后会有明显的开裂、降解，同时水中会有116亿个微塑料、31亿个纳米塑料颗粒。就是说你喝一杯袋泡茶，至少会咽下140亿个塑料微粒。

1. tea bags:

Canada's McGill University researchers selected four kinds of tea bags available in everyday life. Tea would be poured out of the tea bag first, soaking in hot water for five minutes. The results showed that the tea bags had evidence of cracking and degradation after immersion, while the water would had 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nano-plastic particles. If you drink a cup of tea bag, you will swallow at least 14 billion plastic particles.

2.瓶装水（含塑料包装的各种饮料）：

《环境科学与技术》上的一篇论文估计，爱喝瓶装水的人，平均每天喝进去578颗微塑料，每年可能会摄入21.1万颗。爱喝奶茶和各式饮料的人注意哦！

2. Bottled water (various beverages with plastic packaging):

A paper in Environmental Science and Technology estimated that bottled water lovers take in an average of 578 microplastics daily and may ingest 211,000 annually. Note to lovers of milk tea and assorted beverages!

3、奶瓶：

《自然·食品》杂志上的一篇论文曾指出，婴幼儿使用聚丙烯塑料制成的奶瓶泡奶粉，婴幼儿每次可能摄入1600万个微塑料颗粒。

3. Baby bottles:

A paper in the journal of Nature Food states that baby bottles used by infants and young children are made of polypropylene plastic, from which children might soak up 16 million microplastic particles from powered milk each time.

4.果蔬和肉制品：

《自然·可持续发展》杂志的一项研究指出，莴苣和小麦的根部能吸收土壤和水中的微塑料，进而传播至食物本身。而海洋里的鱼，由于进食和呼吸，每天又要摄入大量海水中的微塑料，而这些鱼又会成为食物，进入到人体内。

4. Fruits, vegetables and meat products:

A study in Nature Sustainabilitystated that the roots of lettuce and wheat absorb microplastics from the soil and water, which then spread to the food itself. Fish in the oceans, in turn, ingest large amounts of microplastics in seawater every day as they eat and breathe, which in turn become food and enter the human body.

小小的微塑料颗粒和碎片，弥漫在我们呼吸的空气中，饮用的水中，天天都在接触的塑料制品上，而后就通过饮食、呼吸、皮肤接触等途径进入我们的身体，随着全身的循环系统到达我们身体的各个角落。长此以往，微塑料正悄悄蚕食我们的健康。研究发现，微塑料已经明确有四大危害：

Tiny microplastic particles and fragments permeate the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the plastic products we touch every day, and then enter our bodies through diet, breathing, skin contact, etc., and reach all corners of our bodies along the whole body's circulatory system. In the long run, microplastics are quietly eating away at our health. Research has found that microplastics have four significant hazards:

1、破坏免疫系统：

微塑料在进入体内后，会通过胃肠道系统转移至淋巴循环系统，然后可能会进入肺部系统内被人体吸收，易导致免疫系统出现不良反应，破坏免疫系统健康。

1.They destroy the immune system:

After entering the body, microplastics will be transferred to the lymphatic circulatory system through the gastrointestinal system and then may enter the lung system, absorbed by the human body, which can easily lead to adverse reactions in the immune system and damage the health of the immune system.

2、引起炎症反应：

在多项实验中已经发现微塑料会引起身体发生炎症反应和细胞损伤。

2. Causes an inflammatory response:

Microplastics have been found to cause an inflammatory response and cellular damage in the body in several experiments.

3、消化道损伤：

微塑料会导致消化系统出现不同程度损伤，导致体内生物的存活性、酶活性等均受到损伤，易导致消化道功能异常出现。

3. Digestive tract damages:

Microplastics can cause different degrees of damage to the digestive system, damaging the viability of organisms in the body, enzyme activity, etc., which can easily lead to abnormalities in the function of the digestive tract.

4、导致癌症等多种疾病：

已有多项国际权威报告指出，塑料内含有的多种化学物质，会导致内分泌系统紊乱，易诱发癌症、生殖疾病以及糖尿病等病。

4. Lead to cancer and other diseases:

Several international authoritative reports have pointed out that plastic contains a variety of chemical substances that will lead to endocrine system disruption, and makes it easy to induce cancer, reproductive diseases, diabetes, and other diseases.

正是由于这些已知的发现，在第五届联合国环境大会，来自175个国家的国家元首、环境部长和其他代表签署通过了《终止塑料污染决议（草案）》，希望到2024年达成一项具有国际法律约束力的协议，涉及塑料制品设计、生产、回收和处理等各个环节。政府已经行动起来了，那我们该怎么办呢？

Because of these known discoveries, the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly, Heads of State, Environment Ministers, and other representatives from 175 countries signed and adopted the (Draft) Resolution on Ending Plastic Pollution in the hope of reaching an international legally binding agreement by 2024 covering all aspects of the design, production, recycling and disposal of plastic products. Governments have acted. So, what can we do?

1、日常出行尽量乘坐公共交通工具；做到这一点，可以从源头上减少60%的微塑料排放！

2、减少使用塑料袋，以编织袋或者布袋代替。喝奶茶、点外卖尽量选择环保纸质容器。因为塑料外包装同样会让身体摄入微塑料；

3、做好垃圾分类。塑料制品等要单独放置，方便有关部门对其进行进一步的处理；

4、日常购买衣服时要注意查看衣服的标签，如果有发现聚酯纤维含量高的衣物，建议不要购买，这也是塑料的一种；

5、如一定需要使用塑料制品时，尽可能选择可降解塑料，这类塑料相较于普通塑料，危害会更小一些。

为了环境、也为了我们自身的健康，让我们一起保护自己免受微塑料侵害！

1, Try to take public transportation for daily travel, which can reduce microplastic emissions by 60% at source!

2, Replacing plastic bags with woven bags or cloth bags instead. Use environmentally friendly paper containers when drinking milk tea and ordering takeout, as plastic packaging would is harmful for the human body.

3, Pay attention to garbage classification. Plastic products and so on should be placed separately to facilitate getting to the right departments for further processing.

4, Pay attention to check the label of clothes when shopping. Try not to buy clothes with high polyester fiber content.

5, Use more biodegradable plastics if necessary. Such plastics are less harmful to our environment and our health compared to regular plastics.