How much microplastic are we actually breathing in? Here’s what we do and still don’t know

By Ria Devereux, Research Fellow, Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London
Karina Corada-Pérez, Research Fellow, Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London

You’ve already inhaled thousands of microscopic particles today. Some will be dust, pollen or soot, and some are plastic. Microplastics – tiny fragments shed from clothes, tyres or packaging – have been found pretty much everywhere. They’re in oceans, soils, wildlife, remote mountaintops and deep-sea trenches and the atmosphere is no exception.

But how much plastic are we really breathing in? And should we be worried?

A modelling study published in the journal Nature…

Read complete article

~	How fatigue shapes World Cup interceptions

~	Don’t change lanes – the maths of holiday traffic jams

~	Most Americans prefer to die at home, but the US healthcare system often prevents it

~	Large language models often prioritize Western moral values, overlooking other cultures

~	As lawmakers politicize the 250th anniversary, Americans are looking for unity over division

~	When a police officer is shot, how they get to the hospital depends on the city – and Philadelphia stands apart

~	Children’s books about Black people’s everyday, joyful lives are sometimes banned – but they help all kids explore what it means to be human

~	A lack of pies for a pack of lies – what spoonerisms reveal about how the brain produces speech

~	Building a long-term base on the Moon will require extensive planning – a planetary geologist describes the considerations that go into it

~	Can scientists make a new element for the periodic table?