And those bright green specks inside their bodies are showing us what they're eating.

然後它們身體裡發出的亮綠色光點顯示了它們正在吃的東西。

It's not food.

那並不是食物。

Those are tiny pieces of...plastic.

那些是「塑膠」的微小碎片。

We hear a lot about pollution from single use plastic items,

我們知道許多汙染源自於單次使用塑膠製品

like plastic straws and shopping bags that are clogging marine habitats.

像是目前充斥於海洋生態環境的塑膠細管及購物袋。

Although these large pieces of plastic contribute the most to the overall mass of plastic polluting oceans,

雖然在汙染海洋的塑膠製品中它們佔了大多數，

they count for a small share of the total number of plastic particles.

但它們在塑膠微粒的總數中只佔了一小部分。

That's because most of the plastic pieces in the oceans don't look like this.

因為大多數存在於海洋裡的塑膠碎片看起來並不像這樣。

They're tiny particles that look like this, and where they're coming from might surprise you.

它們看起來就像這樣的細小微粒，而且他們的來源可能會讓你驚訝。

“Modern fibers, alone or in blends with natural fibers, brought new innovations in cool, crisp comfortable clothes.”

「現代纖維，獨立或混合於自然纖維中，為我們帶來創新的涼爽、平整且舒適的衣物。」

Back in the 1940s, fabrics like nylon, acrylic and rayon-- all made from plastic -- became really popular.

回到 1940 年代，由塑膠所製成的尼龍纖維、壓克力纖維及嫘縈纖維相當熱門。

These synthetic clothes were cheap to produce, comfortable to wear,

這些由合成纖維所製成的衣物製造成本低廉、穿起來舒服，

and as more people have bought clothes for athletics and leisure,

而且當越來越多人購買運動及休閒服裝時，

companies have been making more clothes out of plastic.

各家廠商便利用塑膠生產更多的衣物。

By 2010, over half of all the fabric in our clothing was made from synthetic fibers.

到了 2010 年，超過半數的衣物中所使用的纖維皆來自於合成纖維。

In the meantime, marine scientists noticed that habitats were being polluted with tiny pieces of plastic called “microplastics”.

同時，海洋科學家注意到海洋生態環境的汙染來自於塑膠的細小碎片，稱作「微塑膠」。

These are objects are smaller than 5 millimeters,

微塑膠小於 5 釐米，

and can be anything from tiny shards broken off larger items to microbeads developed for use in cosmetic products.

而且可以是任何東西，從較大型物品分解成的細小碎片，到用於美妝用品中的塑膠微粒。

Microplastics are found in marine habitats everywhere on Earth.

我們可以發現微塑膠出現在地球上的每個海洋生態環境。

Concentrations of microplastics have been found on coastal beaches in South Africa,

微塑膠被發現集中於南非沿海、

The Great Lakes of North America, rivers in Britain,

北美洲五大湖、英國的河流

and at the bottom of an oceanic trench near Russia.

以及俄羅斯附近的海溝底部中。

Turns out, a large share of those microplastics are microfibers:

結果這些微塑膠大部分來自於超細纖維：

tiny strands of plastic, and they're coming from our laundry.

從洗衣服當中所產生的塑膠細小線束。

Looking at this fleece jacket up close,

讓我們近距離地看一下這件刷毛外套，

you can see that its fuzzy material is actually a fabric made from tiny strands of plastic woven together.

你可以看到這些毛絨絨的材質實際上是由塑膠的微小線束編織而成的纖維。

When we wash a synthetic piece of clothing,

當我們清洗衣物的合成纖維部分，

like this fleece, the fabric is pulled loose and tiny microfibers fall out.

像是這個刷毛的位置，纖維會被拉鬆，然後細小的超細纖維脫落。

Scientists actually tested three types of synthetic clothing to see which types shed the most using a washing machine fitted with a special filter.

科學家們實際測試了三種合成衣物，利用安裝特殊過濾器的洗衣機，以確認到底哪種類型脫落最多纖維。

They determined that acrylic shed the most microfibers.

他們發現壓克力纖維脫落了最多的超細纖維。

Over 700,000 on the first wash alone.

第一次清洗中脫落了超過 70 萬的超細纖維。

And even though fiber loss goes down after the first wash, the sheer number of people doing laundry adds up,

即使在第一次清洗後纖維的脫落量就會降低，洗衣服的人數一多，

making microfibers a huge contributor to the nearly five trillion pieces of microplastics that are floating around the world's oceans.

就造成了近五兆的微塑膠碎片漂浮於世界各地的海洋中。

In most dryers there's a mesh screen to catch lint, but washing machines typically don't have a filter.

大多數的烘乾機中有孔篩可以過濾棉絨，但洗衣機基本上並沒有這樣的過濾器。

So everything that falls off our clothes is flushed down the drain.

所以任何從我們衣物上脫離的東西就被沖進了下水道。

From there, microfibers might move through a sewage treatment plant,

在下水道裡，超細纖維可能會經過汙水處理廠，

but the filters are often too large to stop them from passing through and flowing to a discharge point at a nearby marine habitat.

但是過濾器通常太大，無法阻止它們通過並流向附近海洋生態環境的排放點。

Once they reach the ocean, microfibers are consumed by plankton and other filter feeders that eat debris falling to the seafloor.

一旦到達海洋，超細纖維就會被浮游生物消化，且其他的濾食者會將掉落至海床之碎片吃掉。

And then the plastic starts making its way up the food chain,

接著塑膠就進入了食物鏈當中，

passed on by predators feeding on organisms that have ingested microfibers.

獵食動物會吃下超細纖維，將它們延續下去。

Eventually, it reaches us.

最後，回到我們身上。

Plastic enters human bodies when we eat seafood containing microfibers.

當人類吃下含有超細纖維的海鮮時，塑膠就會進入人體。

Like these, which scientists found in a piece of fish they bought at a seafood market.

就像這些，和科學家從海鮮超市買到的魚所發現的一樣。

So, what can be done?

所以，該怎麼辦呢？

Switching to other materials isn't feasible because synthetic clothes -- they're cheap.

更換成其他材質不可行，因為合成衣物非常便宜。

A lot cheaper than making apparel with other fabrics.

跟利用其他纖維生產衣物比較起來便宜太多了。

But what you can do is add a filter to your washing machine that would catch microfibers falling off when you do your laundry.

但是你可以做的，就是在你的洗衣機安裝洗衣服時可以過濾超細纖維的過濾器。

Problem is, those are pretty expensive,

問題是，它們造價不斐，

So another solution is using filter bags that trap microfibers before they fall off into the wash when you do your laundry.

所以另外一種解決方式是利用濾袋，於洗衣過程中，在脫落前纏住超細纖維。

But the most effective change of all would just be buying fewer synthetic clothes,

但是最有效的改變方式還是減少購買合成衣物，

or at least, washing them less often.

或至少，少洗這類型的衣物。

And what less often means...

洗得少就代表…

that's up to you.

就看你囉。

If you've gotten to this point in the video,

如果你了解這部影片想要表述的重點，

you're probably the kind of person who would be curious in learning about something like astronomy.

你可能就是那種對學習天文學那類事物感到好奇的人。

You know, what's out there in case we need to abandon this plastic-filled ship of our own making.

你知道的，為了跳下這艘被我們塞滿塑膠的船 (影射地球)，我們大概要放眼看看外太空。

Brilliant is a problem solving website that teaches you how to think like a scientist.

Brilliant 是個教你如何像科學家思考的解答網站。

They have courses on everything from calculus to astronomy and daily problems in math and science.

他們有任何類型的課程，從微積分到天文學和數學及科學的每日問題。

To learn more about Brilliant, go to Brilliant.org/Vox and sign up for free.

想多了解 Brilliant，就到 Brilliant.org/Vox，並且免費註冊。

The first 200 people that go to that link will get 20% off the annual premium subscription.

前 200 個透過連結註冊的人將會得到年度高級訂閱的 8 折優惠。

So you can view all the daily problems and unlock all the courses.

所以你可以觀看所有每日問題並解鎖所有課程。

Brilliant doesn't directly impact our editorial, but their support makes videos like this one possible.

Brilliant 並不影響我們的評論，但他們的支持使這部影片得以誕生。

So go check them out and thanks for watching!

所以就去瞧瞧他們的網站吧！謝謝觀賞！