National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All -- And Fast


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A plastic fork sticks out of the sand on the beach at Prestwick, Scotland, in 2005.

An August 2009 study says plastics—including the polystyrene used to make many disposable forks—decompose much faster than thought, and emit toxic chemicals in the process.

Photograph by Christopher Furlong, Getty Images