Microplastics can be found in all kinds of colours and shapes. Image: Bernd Nowack
Sea birds dying in agony with a belly full of plastic garbage; plastic accumulations as big as islands: Virtually everyone has seen pictures like these today. But there are also plastic particles that are barely visible to the eye - microplastics. The danger posed by these tiny particles has hardly been researched to date. Empa researchers have now carried out the world's first risk assessment for microplastics in lakes and rivers. The study concludes that aquatic organisms in Europe are not (yet) acutely endangered. As small as a grain of dust - but of great global significance. The word microplastics is familiar to many, but the dangers are virtually unexplored.
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