'美瞳' can make eyes look big and bright, is a must-have item for many women. However, a new study released at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society and the exhibition reminds people that the used 'beauty瞳' and other contact lenses should not be thrown away, so as not to cause pollution of plastic particles in the river.
Researchers at Arizona State University found that in the United States, about 45 million people wear contact lenses, and 15% to 20% of them will throw used contact lenses into the toilet or sink. It is estimated that they will enter the US sewers every year. The total weight of the glasses is 6 to 10 tons.
Contact lenses are usually made of materials such as silicone hydrogels and are plastic. Researchers have selected five commercially available contact lens materials, which are exposed to anaerobic and aerobic microbial environments used in wastewater treatment plants. Man spectrometer detection. They found that after long-term treatment of the microorganisms used in the sewage treatment plant, the contact lens physically degraded, eventually forming plastic particles.
These plastic particles are discharged into the natural environment with the treated sewage, posing a threat to aquatic organisms.
According to Charlie Rollske of Arizona State University who participated in the study, aquatic organisms mistake plastic particles for food, but plastics cannot be digested, so this will inevitably affect their digestive system. Some aquatic organisms will eventually enter the human food supply chain. This means that humans may be exposed to these plastic particles and the contaminants attached to the surface of the particles.
Researchers have called for contact lens manufacturers to include hints on packaging to remind people not to throw discarded contact lenses into the sewer, but to treat them with other solid waste.