Secondary microplastics definition
Secondary microplastics means the fraction of microplastics in the marine environment which results from the breakdown of larger items in numerous tiny fragments due to mechanical forces and/or photochemical processes, as well as from other degradation sources such as fibres in wastewater from washing clothes and particles of rubber lost from tyres due to normal wear.
Examples of Secondary microplastics in a sentence
Secondary microplastics are those that have formed as a result of macroplastic degradation, for example breakdown of in situ litter (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2011; ▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2009; ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2012; ▇▇▇▇ et al., 2008) or the washing of artificial fabrics in the laundry, which can lead to the loss of up to 1900 fibres into wastewater per wash (▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2011).