Weekend Plus Desk :
Not many people care about what happens after they flush their contact lenses down the toilet or toss them out in a sink basin? It is how most people normally dispose off their lenses. But as studies have pointed out, it may not be the right thing to do. Disposing your contact lenses incorrectly has a flipside.
The American Chemical Society carried out a research that showed that 20 per cent of more than 400 contact lens wearers, who were randomly recruited in an online survey, preferred to flush their used contact lenses down the toilet or sink.
The bad news being, lenses do not biodegrade easily even if they are biomedical goods. According to the research, they may break down and pollute surface water.
Adding to the ever-growing problem of microplastic pollution, lenses may harm the environment more than we can ever imagine.
According to a study carried out in 2015, around 23,6000 metric tons of microplastic was found swirling in the ocean.
Even if there are filters that keep the non biological waste out of wastewater treatment plants, contact lenses being flexible, double over and make their way through to it.
Also, they do not respond to bacteria used to break down pollutants.
Microplastics, may be ingested by fish, corals and other animals. The fragments can carry high loads of pollutants absorbed from their surroundings. So, the organisms taking it in get a dosage of the other pollutants as well.
In what may add to an already worsening environmental hazard, it’s time to choose the bin over the sink when it comes to tossing those contact lenses out.
Not many people care about what happens after they flush their contact lenses down the toilet or toss them out in a sink basin? It is how most people normally dispose off their lenses. But as studies have pointed out, it may not be the right thing to do. Disposing your contact lenses incorrectly has a flipside.
The American Chemical Society carried out a research that showed that 20 per cent of more than 400 contact lens wearers, who were randomly recruited in an online survey, preferred to flush their used contact lenses down the toilet or sink.
The bad news being, lenses do not biodegrade easily even if they are biomedical goods. According to the research, they may break down and pollute surface water.
Adding to the ever-growing problem of microplastic pollution, lenses may harm the environment more than we can ever imagine.
According to a study carried out in 2015, around 23,6000 metric tons of microplastic was found swirling in the ocean.
Even if there are filters that keep the non biological waste out of wastewater treatment plants, contact lenses being flexible, double over and make their way through to it.
Also, they do not respond to bacteria used to break down pollutants.
Microplastics, may be ingested by fish, corals and other animals. The fragments can carry high loads of pollutants absorbed from their surroundings. So, the organisms taking it in get a dosage of the other pollutants as well.
In what may add to an already worsening environmental hazard, it’s time to choose the bin over the sink when it comes to tossing those contact lenses out.
