A Kosawo Primary School pupil drinks water from a tap at the school during break on October 28, 2016. A global scientific study has revealed that 83 per cent of water flowing from taps around the world is contaminated with microplastics.
Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group
The UN agency Unep’s analysis of water and sediments worldwide shows that microplastics are ubiquitous in freshwater, marine ecosystems, soils and even in the atmosphere.
In 2014, the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated an intrusion of 51 trillion pieces of plastics in the ocean (outnumbering the stars in the Milky Way by 500 times!) A recent study shows microplastics ‘hotspots’ could contain as much as 1.9 million pieces per square metre.
