Humans and our environment are facing growing threats from water pollution, and not enough data on the impacts of microplastics, according to major new reports from the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO’s new report calls for more research into microplastics in drinking water and a crackdown on plastic pollution to benefit the environment and reduce human exposure.
“This latest report shows we need to better assess potential harm caused by microplastics,” said Javier Mateo-Sagasta, Senior Researcher on water quality with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). We need more data, not only on the potential health effects, but “for the environment, this needs urgent addressing,” Mateo-Sagasta said in The Daily Mail.