What are microplastics?

 Microplastics are the most prevalent environmental pollutants which are found in waterbodies, air, and soil.  As the name implies, micro plastics are technically defined as particles less than 5 mm in diameter. There are 2 categories of micro-plastics: primary and secondary. Primary micro plastics are tiny plastics designed for commercial use, such as micro fiber of synthetic textiles, micro beads in cosmetics, pellets used for industrial manufacturings, and etc. Secondary microplastics are particles that result from the breakdown of any plastic materials. Additionally, nanoplastics are a subcategory of secondary microplastics defined as particles with a size ranging between 1 nm and 1 μm. The transformation or breakdowns of larger plastic products into microplastics typically happens when plastics degrade, get weathered, used by humans, or undergo manufacturing processes. Then natural weathering process plastics even further through exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, wave action, and wind abrasion. Naturally, plastics continuously get shredded and fragmented into smaller and smaller in passage of time and possibly turn into fibers, particles, and dusts so small that they easily become absorbed or dispersed into environments and human bodies .