microplastic

noun

mi·​cro·​plas·​tic ˌmī-krō-ˈpla-stik 

plural microplastics

1

: a very small piece of plastic especially when occurring as an environmental pollutant

—usually used in plural

… the microplastics that have made their way into the food chain and even the air we breathe.

—Los Angeles Times

… the Mariana Trench contains the highest levels of microplastics (most likely from clothing, bottles, packaging and fishing gear) yet found in the open ocean, offering irrefutable proof that plastics have penetrated even the most remote places on the planet.

—Rina Li

specifically : a piece of plastic that is five millimeters or smaller in size

Indeed, a handful of sand or cup of seawater from nearly anywhere in the world will probably be peppered with microplastics—pieces that are tinier than a small pea and often invisible.

—Jennifer Ackerman

2

: material consisting of microplastics

Most of that microplastic is coming not from broken down plastic soda bottles or shopping bags but textiles and clothing made of synthetic materials like polyester.

—Dharna Noor

compare nanoplastic

microplastic adjective

microplastic pollution

microplastic debris

Examples of microplastic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In half of the brands tested, researchers found more than 1,000 pieces of microplastic per liter. —Joseph Winters / Grist, Popular Science, 23 May 2024

Exactly how the microplastics are making their way into the testicles requires further study. —Will Stone, NPR, 22 May 2024

Stuart Isett/Fortune Across the globe, male sperm count is on the decline—a decades-long drop that has been alternately blamed on pesticides, heavy metals, obesity, and potentially microplastics. —Alena Botros, Fortune Well, 21 May 2024

The new study, which examined both canine and human testicles, found microplastics to be present in all tissue samples. —Cara Lynn Shultz, Peoplemag, 20 May 2024

Scientists may have found the answer to manufacturing plastics products that actually break down without forming into microplastics, or tiny pieces of plastics that could linger for thousands of years. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 11 May 2024

Per National Geographic, primary microplastics make up about 15-30% of microplastics found in the oceans; secondary microplastics make up 70-81%. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 11 Mar. 2024

Beyond that, the synthetic fibers many fast-fashion companies rely on, like polyester, nylon and acrylic, take hundreds of years to biodegrade due to the presence of microplastics, or tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic. —Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 14 May 2024

So the researchers set a goal to prove their substances don't make microplastics over time because they're really being broken down by the microbes in the environment, Pomeroy said. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 11 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined at sense 1