The 'godfather' of microplastics research says we need to move faster to solve our plastic problem

Twenty years ago, a fortuitous trip to the beach led to a life-changing moment for Richard Thompson.

The marine biologist was doing experiments on the seashore in England and found plastic clogging all of his scientific instruments.

"We looked at the sand samples down the microscope, and in and amongst the sand grains we could see pieces that certainly didn't look like sand, and it was those pieces we confirmed to be plastics," said Thompson, now the head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth.

At the time he coined the term "microplastics" to describe the tiny bits of plastic, many smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair, that he found on beaches all around the U.K. 

Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of his discovery, Thompson has written a new paper looking back at the over 7,000 research studies that have been published about microplastics since his discovery. The aim is to understand how pervasive and problematic plastics can be — and what it'll take to find a fix.

"I'm very much of the view now that we've got more than enough evidence actually to stop defining the problem, and to move on to the solutions," said Thompson, who has been dubbed "the godfather of microplastics" by U.K. Member of Parliament Mary Creagh, and holds a PhD in marine ecology.

The paper was published in the journal Science.

Much of the early research was done by Thompson's group to figure out where the microplastics were coming from, and where they were going. 

"We now know that they are found worldwide. They're found literally from the poles to the equator. They're found from near the top of Mount Everest right down to the deepest ocean trenches," said Thompson.

Several studies released recently have looked at how microplastics are being found in unexpected places, such as a recent study from Japan that found tiny bits of plastics embedded in corals on the sea floor. Another study from the University of Toronto found an average of 138 pieces of plastic per fish caught along the Toronto waterfront.

Humans are not immune to plastic's pervasiveness. A particularly unnerving study from Italy found microplastics in human breast milk and placentas, while another in Germany found them in human blood.

And while Thompson says we still don't have a firm grasp on what this is doing to human health, he thinks it's highly likely they are causing harm.

"It's clear we are exposed to the particles in just the same way that the rest of nature is. We've shown with a range of animals that they can be harmfully affected in lab studies. Why would we imagine we're any different?"

We also know much more about the source of all this plastic. Some come from pieces that are intentionally manufactured to be small, such as plastic microbeads and glitter. Substantial quantities are released from the breaking down of goods as they're used, such as car tires and clothing made from synthetic fibres.