Environmental impact of plastics | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2019-05-15

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_pollution


00:02:26 1 Types of plastic debris
00:03:45 1.1 Microdebris
00:06:14 1.2 Macrodebris
00:07:00 2 Decomposition of plastics
00:08:27 3 Persistent organic pollutants
00:09:00 4 Effects on the environment
00:09:57 5 Effects of plastic on land
00:11:00 5.1 Effects of plastic on oceans
00:13:29 5.1.1 Sources of ocean-based plastic pollution
00:15:27 5.1.2 Land-based sources of ocean plastic pollution
00:18:07 5.1.3 Plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean
00:20:05 5.2 Plastic pollution in tap water
00:21:32 6 Effects on animals
00:22:24 6.1 Entanglement
00:23:56 6.2 Ingestion
00:24:05 6.2.1 Marine animals
00:27:07 6.2.2 Birds
00:30:54 7 Effects on humans
00:32:29 7.1 Clinical significance
00:33:12 7.1.1 Thyroid hormone axis
00:33:55 7.1.2 Sex hormones
00:34:35 8 Reduction efforts
00:35:29 8.1 Biodegradable and degradable plastics
00:36:51 8.2 Incineration
00:37:37 8.3 Policy
00:39:45 8.4 Institutional arrangements in Canada
00:43:07 8.5 Collection
00:45:16 8.6 Non-usage and reduction in usage
00:48:33 9 Action for creating awareness
00:49:48 10 See also



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SUMMARY
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Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects (e.g.: plastic bottles and much more) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans.  Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized into micro-, meso-, or macro debris, based on size. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, and as a result levels of plastic production by humans are high. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors have led to a high prominence of plastic pollution in the environment.
Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste enters the ocean from costal communities each year. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can be harmed either by mechanical effects, such as entanglement in plastic objects or problems related to ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology. Humans are also affected by plastic pollution, such as through disruption of various hormonal mechanisms.
As of 2018, about 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced worldwide, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% has been incinerated. In the UK alone, more than 5 million tonnes of plastic are consumed each year, of which only an estimated one-quarter is recycled, with the remainder going to landfills. This large amount of plastic waste inevitably enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. In some areas there have been significant efforts to reduce the prominence of plastic pollution, through reducing plastic consumption and promoting plastic recycling.Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight.