Microplastics Are Everywhere. Here’s What Duke Research Is Doing About Health Concerns

Here’s a few things to consider the next time you think about throwing a plastic item in the trash, the ocean or anywhere other than a recycling bin. A recent survey suggests that every hour people around the world discard 5.7 million toothpaste tubes, 570,000 cell phones and 2.3 million pairs of sneakers. By 2050, researchers believe the plastic and microplastic particles in the oceans could outweigh the fish.  Although microplastics were first discovered more than 60 years ago, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that they emerged as a field of study. Twenty years later, you…