Friday, August 7, 2026

Tag: microplastics

Millions of tons of invisible nanoplastics found polluting North Atlantic Ocean

New research finds an estimated 27 million tons of nanoplastics in the North Atlantic, raising concerns for marine ecosystems and human health.

Plastic is poisoning the soil that grows our food

New research finds agricultural land holds 23 times more microplastics than oceans, with toxic particles infiltrating crops, ecosystems, and human bodies while global regulation lags behind.

Ubiquitous threat: Microplastics discovered in every human placenta sample

This revelation underscores a growing environmental crisis, highlighting the pervasive infiltration of microplastics into the most intimate aspects of human life.

Microplastics in clouds could ‘modify the climate,’ study finds

The tiny particles have been linked with widespread environmental damage, as well as cancers and a range of adverse health impacts related to the lungs and heart.

Study finds high concentration of microplastics in algae growing in Arctic

Scientists found microplastic particles were about 10 times higher in the algae samples than the surrounding waters, which they are now equating with microplastics found in the deep sea.

Algae growing under Arctic Sea ice found contaminated by microplastics

“Arctic biota are already under serious pressure from global heating, which progresses four times faster in the Arctic compared with the globe."

Viruses can remain infectious on microplastics for three days

“It doesn’t take many virus particles to make you sick.”

Scientists develop robotic fish that consumes microplastics

“I think nanotechnology holds great promise for trace adsorption, collection, and detection of pollutants, improving intervention efficiency while reducing operating costs.”

Study detects microplastic in living human lungs for first time

In 11 out of 13 people sampled, a total of 39 microplastics were found in all regions of the lung.

In world-historic first, microplastics detected in human blood

"We've choked this planet with plastic, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans—and we've no idea at all about costs for public health," said a British lawmaker.

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The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Judge Amit Mehta issued the order. Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Judge dismisses the last January 6 case, writing that absolving the Oath Keepers is...

The Justice Department told the court a retrial would harass eight men whose sentences Trump had already commuted. Two Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty and cooperated keep their convictions.
The west front of the U.S. Capitol. The Protected Time Off Act, pending in Congress, would guarantee full-time workers two weeks of paid annual leave. Photo: Architect of the Capitol (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

US workers average 10 paid vacation days a year, and 33 million get none

Twenty-five OECD countries require employers to provide at least 20 days. The US legal minimum is zero, and 57 percent of the lowest-paid tenth of workers get no vacation at all.
A pier on Lake Corpus Christi, a reservoir in the region's water supply. Photo: Larry D. Moore / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Greg Abbott Blasted Corpus Christi for Its Water Crisis. A River Authority He Has...

The Nueces River Authority is working on a project that could expand the Corpus Christi region’s water supply. But the Texas governor has done little to address the agency’s financial problems, despite appointing every member of its board.
The entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where Elvis Brooks was imprisoned for 42 years. Photo: kccornell from Lafayette, LA / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

He’s Eligible for Up to $480,000 After Being Wrongly Imprisoned for 42 Years. The...

Elvis Brooks’ case was an egregious example of a wrongful conviction, civil rights attorneys said. But Louisiana’s attorney general maintains that Brooks and other exonerees are guilty — and therefore don’t qualify for any money from the state.
A young Jeffrey pine on a slope in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Photo: Dcrjsr / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Gnarly Situation: High-Elevation Discovery Raises New Questions About Which California Trees Will Survive...

Birds may have been burying Jeffrey pine seeds up high for thousands of years. But now that they’re sprouting, this new species of subalpine tree may change the playing field.