You might be consuming a credit card鈥檚 worth of microplastics every week, according to a new study.
Researchers in Australia, commissioned by environmental charity the World Wildlife Fund, combined data from more than 50 bodies on the consumption of microplastics. The results showed a global average ingestion rate of over 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic, or 5 grams, every week. That鈥檚 the 鈥�,鈥� the University of Newscastle found. The ingestion amounts to 21 grams of plastic every month and more than 250 grams annually.
Shellfish, beer and salt recorded some of the highest levels of plastic across 鈥渃onsumables鈥� studied, while water (both bottled and tap) was the largest source of plastic ingestion globally.
鈥淭hese findings must serve as a wake-up call to governments,鈥� said Marco Lambertini, director general with WWF International. 鈥淣ot only are plastics polluting our oceans and waterways and killing marine life -- it鈥檚 in all of us and we can鈥檛 escape consuming plastics.鈥�
A has garnered more than 650,000 signatures calling for a global 鈥渓egally binding treaty鈥� to end plastic pollution by 2030.
鈥淭he findings of the report demonstrate that the problem of plastic pollution is a universal one and directly affecting people,鈥� a University of Newcastle read. 鈥淟eakage of plastic into our environment and food chain has been met so far with an inadequate global response by governments.鈥�
Another recent study found that North Americans eat, drink and inhale tens of thousands of tiny plastic particles annually.
