Last week, two scientists from Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology shared the results of a study they conducted in December 2021, which showed that there are microplastics in the air in all 17 cities of Metro Manila. Although there are a growing number of studies confirming that microplastics are present almost everywhere one looks for them, the findings of the Mindanao State researchers are still alarming, because they make the nightmare of microplastic pollution personal. Put more plainly, if you are in Metro Manila, every breath you are drawing as you are reading this contains a detectable concentration of microplastics. If you are somewhere else, you're probably also breathing in microplastics; we just haven't gotten the research study to confirm that.

Kritz, B. (2023, May 16). The macro-scale nightmare of microplastics. The Manila Times, pp. A4, A5.