{"id":8140,"date":"2018-06-21T07:13:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T05:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dana.ggiants.de\/faq\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\/"},"modified":"2024-07-11T09:34:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T07:34:19","slug":"comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"faq","link":"https:\/\/materialneutral.info\/en\/faq\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics &#8211; What is the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The main difference between nano- and microplastics is the respective size range. Microplastics are exclusively composed of polymers such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene) and comprise a group of larger particles up to 5 <span class=\"glossaryLink\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"cmtt_4f7397be2d7c1e05b5666922f6512749\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>&micro;m<\/span> in size. An agreed definition of microplastics does not exist yet. <em>Primary microplastics<\/em> describe all industrially manufactured products e.g. for cosmetics, detergents or drug carriers in medicine. However, the majority is represented by <em>secondary microplastics<\/em>, which is created in the environment by the fragmentation of plastic waste. By further fragmentation eventually also nanoplastic is formed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Microplastics is currently being discussed as having potential <span class=\"glossaryLink\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"cmtt_7fc5eb40ae9ced824898b7a4ee0502cd\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">harmful effects<\/span> on the environment. Various bodies at national and European level are intensively studying this issue. Studies have confirmed the formation of a <span class=\"glossaryLink\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"cmtt_3ddd56a982b62f20c8279dbc63e14262\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">nanoscale<\/span> plastic fraction under environmental conditions but there are currently no studies on their possible negative effects on fauna and flora.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For <span class=\"glossaryLink\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"cmtt_b9e9395286233f41aea957abe9492004\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">nanomaterials<\/span> on the other hand, a definition already exists. Their compositions are not restricted to plastic polymers, but also include metals or carbon-based materials. Thank to extensive research during the last year, knowledge on the possible effects of nanomaterials on humans and the environment has been generated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Research Activities on the topic microplastics:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><a title=\"Umweltbundesamt (UBA)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umweltbundesamt.de\/themen\/mikroplastik-in-der-umwelt-uba-an\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Umweltbundesamt (UBA)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Bundesministerium f&#xFC;r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bmbf.de\/bmbf\/shareddocs\/kurzmeldungen\/de\/forschen-damit-die-meere-nicht-weiter-vermuellen.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bundesministerium f&#xFC;r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","faq_category":[55],"class_list":["post-8140","faq","type-faq","status-publish","hentry","faq_category-03_application-products"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics - What is the difference? - MANTRA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/materialneutral.info\/en\/faq\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics - What is the difference? - MANTRA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The main difference between nano- and microplastics is the respective size range. Microplastics are exclusively composed of polymers such as [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/materialneutral.info\/en\/faq\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MANTRA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-11T07:34:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/faq\\\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/faq\\\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics - What is the difference? - MANTRA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-21T05:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-11T07:34:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/faq\\\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/faq\\\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/faq\\\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics &#8211; What is the difference?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"MANTRA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MANTRA\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/logo_white_1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/logo_white_1.svg\",\"width\":436,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"MANTRA\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/materialneutral.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics - What is the difference? - MANTRA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/materialneutral.info\/en\/faq\/comparing-nanomaterials-with-microplastics-what-is-the-difference\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comparing nanomaterials with microplastics - What is the difference? - MANTRA","og_description":"The main difference between nano- and microplastics is the respective size range. 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