What are nurdles?
Nurdles can work their way into the digestive tracts of various marine animals.
Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used by the plastics industry. Roughly the same size as a lentil, they are melted down and moulded into a variety of plastic products. But as nurdles are produced and shipped around the world, every year about 230,000 tonnes leak into the wider environment, according to a survey by environmental charity Fidra.
One cargo ship spill alone in May 2021 released 1,500 tonnes of nurdles into the Indian Ocean. Like other microplastics, nurdles pose a threat to marine life as they tend to absorb toxic chemicals and can easily be ingested by animals who mistake them for food.
Read more:
- How does plastic get into the oceans?
- Why don’t microplastics keep breaking down?
- Is it possible to recycle plastics an infinite number of times?
- What does biodegradable plastic degrade into?
Asked by: Mai Huynh, West Midlands
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- This article first appeared in issue 374 of BBC Science Focus Magazine – find out how to subscribe here
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