Definition of microplastic in English:
microplastic
(also microplastics)
noun ˈmʌɪkrəʊplastɪkˈmaɪkroʊˌplæstɪk
mass nounExtremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste.
we dump huge amounts of plastic waste into the ocean every year, much of it ending up as microplastic
studies reported microplastics inside fish in the English Channel and harbour seals in the Netherlands
as modifier microplastic pollution is a strain to lake and river ecosystems
Example sentencesExamples
- Most studies of ocean microplastic focus on the debris that floats at the sea surface, but this leaves other potential collections of plastic unaccounted for.
- "Microplastic is now a ubiquitous contaminant in the Pacific Ocean - and seas around the world," said Eriksen.
- "We have seen the microplastics in the guts of worms but we haven't actually yet tested whether or not that is getting further into the food chain," she said.
- Over time plastic debris eventually fragments into tiny particles creating 'plastic plankton' or 'microplastic,' which is a serious long-term concern, particularly for marine food webs.
- They have turned their recent research into microplastics in the Great Lakes into a platform for advocacy, pressuring companies to stop using the plastic beads altogether.
- He said a single product could contain hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles that would likely persist for decades and be ingested by a vast range of organisms.
- Fishing lines which contain plastic such as nylon can take up to 600 years to decompose, and during degradation become microparticles or microplastics.
- Microplastics have been discovered widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments.
- "The environment is getting hammered by all sorts of stressors and any effort to reduce microplastics is a good thing."
Definition of microplastic in US English:
microplastic
(also microplastics)
nounˈmaɪkroʊˌplæstɪkˈmīkrōˌplastik
Extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste.
we dump huge amounts of plastic waste into the ocean every year, much of it ending up as microplastic
studies reported microplastics inside fish in the English Channel and harbor seals in the Netherlands
as modifier microplastic pollution is a strain to lake and river ecosystems
Example sentencesExamples
- He said a single product could contain hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles that would likely persist for decades and be ingested by a vast range of organisms.
- "Microplastic is now a ubiquitous contaminant in the Pacific Ocean - and seas around the world," said Eriksen.
- Most studies of ocean microplastic focus on the debris that floats at the sea surface, but this leaves other potential collections of plastic unaccounted for.
- "The environment is getting hammered by all sorts of stressors and any effort to reduce microplastics is a good thing."
- "We have seen the microplastics in the guts of worms but we haven't actually yet tested whether or not that is getting further into the food chain," she said.
- Fishing lines which contain plastic such as nylon can take up to 600 years to decompose, and during degradation become microparticles or microplastics.
- Over time plastic debris eventually fragments into tiny particles creating 'plastic plankton' or 'microplastic,' which is a serious long-term concern, particularly for marine food webs.
- They have turned their recent research into microplastics in the Great Lakes into a platform for advocacy, pressuring companies to stop using the plastic beads altogether.
- Microplastics have been discovered widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments.