Researchers have detected microplastics in human testicles. Volodymyr Zakharov/Getty Images hide caption
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microplastics
Wednesday
Thursday
A registered scavenger, who mainly collects plastic waste to sell, walking in a landfill in Indonesia. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Saturday
Nuts and dried fruit items at a grocery store. Martha Bebinger/WBUR hide caption
Wednesday
Plastic debris is washed up at Depoe Bay, Ore., on Jan. 19, 2020. Andrew Selsky/AP hide caption
Monday
A new study shows that plastic baby bottles, when heated or shaken, release microplastics into the liquid. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
Thursday
In addition to large plastic trash, researchers estimate that more than 21 million metric tons of tiny plastic debris are floating below the Atlantic Ocean's surface. Michael O'Neill/Science Source hide caption
Thursday
A water sample taken from the Mediterranean Sea as part of a scientific study about microplastics damaging marine ecosystems on the French Riviera in 2018. In a new study, the WHO says that microplastics are "ubiquitous." Eric Gaillard/Reuters hide caption
Tuesday
Trash sent for recycling moves along a conveyor belt to be sorted at Waste Management's material recovery facility in Elkridge, Md. In 2018, China announced it would no longer buy most plastic waste from places like the United States. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
U.S. Recycling Industry Is Struggling To Figure Out A Future Without China
Thursday
The deep ocean is filled with sea creatures like giant larvaceans. They're actually the size of tadpoles, but they're surrounded by a yard-wide bubble of mucus that collects food — and plastic. Courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute hide caption
Microplastics Have Invaded The Deep Ocean — And The Food Chain
Monday
Microplastics are not just showing up on beaches like this one in the Canary Islands — a very small study shows that they are in human waste in many parts of the world. Desiree Martin/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
A nearly 2,000-foot-long tube is towed offshore from San Francisco Bay on Saturday. It's a giant garbage collector and the brainchild of 24-year-old Boyan Slat, who aims to remove 90 percent of ocean plastic by 2040. The Ocean Cleanup hide caption
Thursday
Single-use plastic bags like these are going to be phased out by Kroger supermarkets. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
Friday
A prep cook at a San Francisco restaurant drops fish skin into a food scrap recycling container. Turning food waste into fertilizer is popular in parts of Europe and is catching on in the U.S. But tiny plastics are also making their way into that fertilizer — and into the food chain. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption