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You Could Be Eating Up To A Credit Card’s Worth Of Plastic Each Week

You Could Be Eating Up To A Credit Card’s Worth Of Plastic Each Week

The WWF study found water and shellfish to be the biggest reasons for our plastic ingestion

Naomi Chadderton

Naomi Chadderton

With plastic pollution becoming a greater concern every day, a recent study commissioned by environmental charity WWF International has shown we may now be ingesting as much as five grams per week - the equivalent of eating a credit card.

Unsplash/Brian Yurasits

We're apparently consuming up to 102,000 tiny pieces of plastic less than 1mm in size, which equates to 250 grams each year, and largest source of our plastic ingestion is drinking water.

This is followed closely by shellfish, which tend to be eaten whole meaning any plastic in their digestive system is consumed too, according to the study by Australia's University of Newcastle, which was based on the conclusions of 52 other studies.

Beer and salt were uncovered as two of the other main culprits.

"Since 2000 the world has produced as much plastic as all the preceding years combined, a third of which is leaked into nature," the report said.

PA Images

Alec Taylor, Head of Marina Policy at WWF, added: "Plastic is polluting our planet in the deepest ocean trenches, but now we know that it's also polluting our own bodies through the food we eat and the water we drink."

While the amount of plastic pollution varies by location, nowhere is untouched, and the US reported the highest levels with 94.4% of tap water samples containing plastic fibres and an average of 9.6 fibres per litre.

Here in Europe, figures are slightly better (yet still drastic) with fibres present in 72.2% of water samples and an average of 3.8 fibres per litre.

While the long-term consequences are not yet fully understood, Alec Taylor states the report "must serve as a wake-up call" to governments, adding: "We don't want plastic in our ocean, and we don't want it on out plates."

Amen to that.

Featured Image Credit: Credit: Pexels

Topics: Life News, Real