Imagine you are taking a walk on thebeautiful beach. Just then, your feet step over something and you hear a crack(噼啪声) —an emptyplastic bottle. Things like this are happening more often because of searubbish.
Studies show that 80% of all the waste isfrom the land. The waste is mainly plastics (塑料制品)which are really hard to degrade (降解). So the rubbishwill remain there for a long time. Some of the pollution is causedaccidentally. For example, about 10,000 product-filled boxes are lost at seaevery year from business ships. Sometimes people just throw things into thewater from boats or land. Many large rubbish areas are formed in the NorthPacific Ocean.
Thankfully, the situation isn't ignored (忽视). Groups like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)are taking action to help clean the sea. Since 2006,76 projects have clearedout 3,814 metric tons (公吨) of rubbish from the sea.Methods of rubbish cleaning include using machines to remove (移除) the waste away from the surface of sea water. Besides, specialnets are set by the mouths of rivers to stop the rubbish before it reaches thesea. If everyone does his part, sea rubbish seems like a problem that can besolved.
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A. There, sunlight and waves (海浪) break the plastic waste down to very small pieces. B. The scientists are sure that the plastic must be harmful to humans. C. According to USA Today, 90% of sea salt which is sold in the world includes plastic. D. The scientists followed eight healthy volunteers from different parts of the world. E. However, the scientists aren't sure if the plastic is harmful to humans. F. Scientists found nine different kinds of plastic in the stool samples, according to the study. |
We have found plastic in the ocean and in animals like birds, fish and whales. But for the first time, scientists have found plastic in human poop (大便), USA Today reported. The findings came from a study led by scientists from Environment Agency Austria The volunteers wrote down what they ate for a week and then provided a stool sample (大便样本) for testing.
About 20 small plastic particles (IM) were found in every 10 grams (克) of stool. "The smallest plastic particles can enter the blood, the lymphatic system, and may even reach the liver (肝脏)," said Philipp Schwabl, who took part in the research. They're not sure how the plastic got in the volunteers' bodies, either. But most of the volunteers said they drank from plastic bottles and also ate seafood that could include plastic from ocean pollution.
In fact, plastic is everywhere around us. Every year, lots of plastic waste goes into the ocean.
Most of the particles stay in the ocean. Others can spread into the soil and air. Could plastic in the air fall onto food and get into the human body?
Some past studies may also give us a clue. And even some drinking water has been found to have tiny plastic particles in it.
