Plastic Pollution: The Poison of “Mermaid’s Tears”

Plastic Pollution: The Poison of “Mermaid’s Tears”
Symptoms of out-of-control pollution, these oil-based pellets are invading our environment. This Tuesday, August 5, in Geneva, 175 countries are meeting to negotiate an agreement to reduce plastic production. Don’t be fooled by their name, which sounds like something straight out of a Greek mythology tale. “Mermaid’s Tears” are nothing more than ordinary industrial plastic pellets that, when they spill into the sea by the millions, suffocate and kill some of the underwater fauna, scatter on beaches, and, when they spread into waterways, pollute rivers and streams. Produced by petrochemical giants, from the American company ExxonMobil to the French company TotalEnergies, they are transported across the world’s seas in containers destined for plastic manufacturers. They are therefore found throughout