polystyrene

When UBC food safety researcher Tianxi Yang became a mother, she wondered how much microplastic her son would ingest when drinking milk out of widely available plastic containers.

The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown.

Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous.

Polystyrene cups will also be banned, but campaigners say action to cut plastic waste is "snail-paced."