Introduction: Microplastics—a Growing Threat to Humans and the Environment

The topic of “environmental pollution by humans”, whether through CO2 emissions or radioactive nuclear waste, and how to counteract it, is gaining more and more importance. In this context, the entry of plastics into the environment plays a very special role. Plastics can be found almost everywhere in the environment, even far away from human civilization, and they do not degrade within a human lifetime. Thus, we ourselves feel the consequences of this type of environmental pollution on our own bodies, and the action motto of many citizens: “Out of sight, out of mind” literally falls at our feet on the beaches or into our food via the sea salt.