Plastics and microplastics in water, a global problem affecting our aquatic systems

Abstract

The term "microplastic" was chosen as the word for 2018 in the Fundéu BBVA and is serving to better understand the current problems that this entails. Recent research estimates that each year we dump more than eight million tons of plastic into the sea, which represents a danger to the lives of marine animals. The presence of these microspheres in the ocean is increasing. The UN declared in 2017 that there are up to 51,000 million microplastic particles in the sea, 500 times more than the number of stars in our galaxy. Microplastics found in the sea can be ingested by marine animals. Plastic accumulates in your body and can end up in humans through the food chain.