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Research Dossier

 Research into Microplastics

I will be abbreviating microplastics to MP's


As part of my role as lead Environment artist I have decided to take it upon myself and do research into how microplastics affect the areas I design to add a layer of depth and to provide awareness to the dangers that microplastics pose to us at the top of the food chain.

Given the area that I am creating is the urban section I wanted to specifically delve into if microplastics could make it into the atmosphere and what it could do to the human body along with that I looked at some more studies covering more standard topics like concentrations of MP's in water sources. 

In my first source on MP pollution in water sources its stated that -"The concentrations of microplastics in the urban rivers varied from 5.00 to 10.5 items/L",- although this is in China specifically I'm still going to take this into account for the game world as a whole On top of that I have found a source on drinking water from the UK that states -"more than 99.9% of microplastic particles are removed through the drinking water treatment process with potable water containing on average 0.00011 microplastic particles per litre (mp/l)."- However considering that our game takes place in a society that has in some ways collapsed and been overtaken by nature and plastic amalgams, the water sources are unlikely to be clean to that standard which enables me to experiment with different area types around the city.

My second source covers how we get exposed to microplastics as well as the potential dangers we faced when exposed to them over a long period of time. We can effectively be exposed to microplastics through any source including but not limited to water, food sources, the atmosphere and other forms of direct contact. The ways in which they can affect us are numerous- "Sharp microplastic particles can cause toxicity by physically stimulating the human body."-  the digestive systems are affected when microplastics are ingested, and physical irritation to the gastrointestinal tract may eventually cause inflammation,"- I can probably use this as a mechanic in the game itself, if our character is exposed to too many pollutants in a short period of time they might be slowed because of the pain, to indicate this the player character might hunch over or cover their stomach.

The last point I want to make is on the long term effects of inhalation of MP's, since I'm designing the urban area this is a perfect topic to cover. I have decided to model my urban area after a place that has suffered from overpopulation which led to a much larger production of plastics and other materials which in the long run spelled out there doom. We get to this city after many many years, long enough for most of the plastics to shred themselves into airborne particulates- "Regarding the effects on the respiratory system, microplastics may cause oxidative stress in the airways and lungs when inhaled, leading to respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, and shortness of breath due to inflammation and damage, as well as fatigue and dizziness due to a low blood oxygen concentration."- The microspora I mentioned in a previous post are able to work in low oxygen environments so if they are apart of the player characters biology they have a natural resistance however it still won't be enough.


Juan Chen, Yinger Deng,Yong Chen, Xin Peng, Han Qin, Tao Wang and Chenchen Zhao, 2022. Distribution Patterns of Microplastics Pollution in Urban Fresh Waters: A Case Study of Rivers in Chengdu, China [Online]. National Library of Medicine. Available at:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9331282/ [Accessed 7th October 2024]

Yongjin Lee, Jaelim Cho, Jungwoo Sohn, and Changsoo Kimcorresponding, 2023. Health Effects of Microplastic Exposures: Current Issues and Perspectives in South Korea [Online].National Library of Medicine. Available at:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10151227/#sec-a.n.ctitle [Accesssed 8th October 2024]

S.L. Wright, 2020. Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport [Online]. ScienceDirect. Available at:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019330351 [Accessed 8th October 2024]

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