​Microplastics are tiny plastic particles (100 nanometres to 5 millimetres). They originate either as intentionally manufactured “primary” microplastics used in products like cosmetics, textiles, and industrial abrasives. “Secondary” fragments are formed when larger plastics break down through weathering, sunlight, and mechanical wear. Their varied size, shape, and chemical composition make them difficult to trace and remove. Non-biodegradable and highly persistent, they travel through air and water, accumulating across ecosystems. Microplastics can be found from the Mariana Trench to Arctic snow and even within the human body. Throughout their life cycle, microplastics move between land, waterways, oceans, and the atmosphere, where they are consumed by wildlife and eventually re-enter the food chain.