A study has found out that we are breathing micro-plastic, eating it and drinking plastic-filled water daily.
According to the Guardian, plastics do not decompose, but they break down into smaller pieces, spread to the rivers and ocean, get eaten by fish and other marine animals and become part of the food chain.
A study done by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) International noted that you could be swallowing plastic the size of a credit card in a week, through water and other sources such as shellfish.
Therefore, you are likely to ingest micro-plastics by drinking tap or bottled water and through sea food.
Based on the WWF study, here is the amount of plastic one is likely to consume in their lifetime.
1. Weekly, you are likely to consume 5 grams of plastic, a weight equivalent to a plastic bottle cap.
2. By the end of 30 days, you will have absorbed 21 grams, a weight equivalent to five casino dices.
3. In 6 months, you will have ingested 125 grams, which is equivalent to a full cereal bowl.
4. Yearly, you will have eaten 250 grams, which is equal to a heaped dinner plate.
5. In a period of 10 years, you will have swallowed 2.5kg of plastic.
6. In our life time, we are likely to swallow 20 kg of plastic, basing on the average human life of 79 years.
One of the researchers, Thava Palanisami, noted that even though we continue to use plastic for years, we still don't know the impact of micro- and nano-sized plastic particles on our health.
"We are ingesting it and it has the potential to cause toxicity, hence the need for us to be concerned," Thava noted.