Commonly Used Disposable Plastic Bags as a Source of Microplastic in Environment

Abstract

The use of disposable plastic bags, one of the leading plastic products encountered in daily life, has been mostly impossible to prevent, even though a falling trend is observed in light of taxes and fines introduced in a number of countries. The term microplastics often recalls the break of larger plastics into smaller “plastic fragments.” Yet, “MP fibers” which are severed apart from synthetic textiles and “MP films” which are produced as plastic bags crumble away in time should also come to one’s mind. The smaller the size of a plastic, the larger the number and range of species it could affect and harm. In terms of volume, microplastic fibers and films are particularly smaller, lighter, and less voluminous compared to “plastic fragments.”