Plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our ocean and Great Lakes. Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than five millimeters in length (or about the size of a pencil eraser) are called “microplastics”, which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.
塑料是海洋和五大湖中发现的最普遍的海洋垃圾类型。塑料碎片可以有各种形状和大小，但那些长度小于五毫米（或大约是铅笔橡皮擦大小）的塑料碎片被称为“微塑料”,对我们的海洋和水生生物造成危害。
As an emerging field of study, not a lot is known about microplastics and their impacts yet. The NOAA Marine Debris Program is leading efforts within NOAA to research this topic. Standardized field methods for collecting sediment, sand, and surface-water microplastic samples have been developed and continue to undergo testing. Eventually, field and laboratory protocols will allow for global comparisons of the amount of microplastics released into the environment, which is the first step in determining the final distribution, impacts, and fate of this debris.
作为一个新兴的研究领域，人们对微塑料及其影响还知之甚少。 NOAA 海洋碎片计划正在 NOAA 内部领导该主题的研究工作。用于收集沉积物、沙子和地表水微塑料样本的标准化现场方法已经开发出来，并继续进行测试。最终，现场和实验室协议将允许对释放到环境中的微塑料数量进行全球比较，这是确定这些碎片的最终分布、影响和命运的第一步。
Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces. In addition, microbeads, a type of microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and toothpastes. These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean and Great Lakes, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.
微塑料有多种来源，包括来自较大的塑料碎片，这些碎片会降解成越来越小的碎片。此外，微珠是一种微塑料，是由聚乙烯塑料制成的非常小的碎片，可作为去角质剂添加到健康和美容产品中，例如一些清洁剂和牙膏。这些微小颗粒很容易穿过水过滤系统，最终进入海洋和五大湖，对水生生物构成潜在威胁。
Microbeads are not a recent problem. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, plastic microbeads first appeared in personal care products about fifty years ago, with plastics increasingly replacing natural ingredients. As recently as 2012, this issue was still relatively unknown, with an abundance of products containing plastic microbeads on the market and not a lot of awareness on the part of consumers. On December 28, 2015, President Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products.
微珠并不是最近才出现的问题。据联合国环境规划署称，大约五十年前，塑料微珠首次出现在个人护理产品中，塑料越来越多地取代天然成分。就在2012年，这个问题还相对不为人知，市场上含有塑料微珠的产品很多，但消费者的意识还不够。 2015 年 12 月 28 日，奥巴马总统签署了《2015 年无微珠水法案》，禁止在化妆品和个人护理产品中使用塑料微珠。
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