Plastic pollution is creating a ‘plastisphere’: a widespread habitat that includes pathogenic viruses and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, a group of environmental researchers highlights. The problem has no easy fix, but the ecosystems of the plastisphere must be thoroughly studied, with consistent sources of funding and backing from policymakers, if we’re to mitigate the risks posed by the pathogens lurking within.
We wrote about microplastics in desert air, in water, in babies, in breast milk. They are shed from toothbrushes. Microplastics go into your body through plastic aligners like used in orthodontics.
This Nature article gives a complete overview on what we know about the plastisphere. And there is a new worry: nanoplastics.
