A. The proliferation of plastic, a defining feature of the modern era, has resulted in an environmental predicament of unprecedented scale. A particularly insidious component of this issue is microplastics: fragments of plastic measuring less than five millimetres in diameter. These particles originate from two primary sources. Primary microplastics are intentionally manufactured small, such as the microbeads formerly common in cosmetic exfoliants and industrial abrasives. More ubiquitously, secondary microplastics are formed from the gradual fragmentation and degradation of larger plastic debris—bottles, bags, and fishing nets—battered by wave action, solar radiation, and other environmental stressors. Their minuscule size and durability have allowed them to permeate every corner of the globe, from the most remote alpine lakes to the abyssal depths of the Mariana Trench. B. For marine organisms, the omnipresence of microplastics poses a direct and tangible threat. Many creatures, from microscopic zooplankton at the base of the food web to larger filter-feeders like mussels and baleen whales, cannot distinguish these plastic particles from their natural food sources. Ingestion is…
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