They have clumped together to form a mound on the banks of the Thames, part of a “great wet wipe reef”. “Hundreds of thousands of plastic-containing wet wipes, discharged from our overloaded sewage system, have formed five ‘great wet wipe reefs’, which are visible at low tide. People in the UK use 11 billion wet wipes each year, spending £500million – a booming industry that has grown by 30% since 2014. This included human waste, wet wipes, sanitary products and condoms, all released into waterways. “The effects of plastic ingestion on marine animals are largely unknown.”

Source: Daily Mirror May 29, 2021 12:18 UTC