• TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension.[1] They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are used in exfoliating personal care products, toothpastes, and in biomedical and health-science research.[2]

      -Wikipedia

    • vortic@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      If these aren’t microplastics, what are?

      “Micro” just means “small” in this case and doesn’t mean “microscopic” or have anything to do with “micrometer”.

      The definition of “microplastic” according to NOAA: “Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long”.