UPSC Prelims 2025 Q44: Hidden Plastic in Daily Products — Explained
Consider the following:
I. Cigarette butts
II. Eyeglass lenses
III. Car tyres
How many of them contain plastic?
- Only one
- Only two
- All the three
- None
Answer: (c) All the three
Statement-wise explanation
- I: correct — Almost every commercial cigarette has a filter made of cellulose acetate. Cellulose acetate is a semi-synthetic plastic: plant cellulose is chemically modified with acetic acid into a polymer that breaks down very slowly. WHO says this filter is poorly degradable and a source of microplastics. About 4.5 trillion cigarettes are thrown into the environment every year, and each butt takes about 10 years to decompose.
- II: correct — Most spectacle lenses today are plastic, not glass. Common lens materials are CR-39 (allyl diglycol carbonate resin), polycarbonate and high-index polymers. They are lighter and break less easily than mineral glass. Even glass lenses often carry polymer coatings.
- III: correct — A tyre is not just natural rubber. Its tread contains synthetic rubbers such as styrene-butadiene rubber and butadiene rubber, which are petroleum-based polymers. The tyre body also holds nylon or polyester cords. Tyre abrasion during driving is one of the two largest sources of primary microplastics, according to a 2017 IUCN study.
How to eliminate
This question can only be solved by knowing what each item is made of. Basic reasoning still helps. 'None' is very unlikely, because UPSC tagged this as a microplastics question and would not list three plastic-free items. Spectacle lenses are the easiest to settle from daily life: most are visibly lightweight plastic. After that, you need two facts. First, a cigarette filter is cellulose acetate, a plastic, not cotton or paper. Second, a tyre contains synthetic rubber, a petroleum-based polymer that sheds microplastics as the tyre wears. Watch out for the trap of thinking 'rubber' and 'filter' mean natural materials. Many hidden plastics are polymers that do not look like plastic.
Know more
Microplastics are plastic pieces smaller than 5 mm. They come from two routes:
- Primary microplastics are released as small particles to begin with. Examples are fibres shed when washing synthetic clothes, tyre dust and microbeads.
- Secondary microplastics form when larger items break down. Examples are bottles, bags and cigarette filters.
A 2017 IUCN study found that 15–31% of the roughly 9.5 million tonnes of plastic entering the oceans each year may be primary microplastics. Almost two-thirds of that comes from washing synthetic textiles and from tyre abrasion. Microbeads in cosmetics account for only about 2%.
Hidden plastics in everyday products
| Product | Plastic inside | How it pollutes |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarette filter | Cellulose acetate | Butts break into fibres and leach chemicals |
| Car tyre | Synthetic rubber (SBR, BR), nylon/polyester cords | Tread wears into tyre and road-wear particles |
| Spectacle lens | CR-39, polycarbonate | Small volume, but still a polymer |
| Synthetic clothing | Polyester, nylon, acrylic | Fibres shed in every wash |
| Tea bags, chewing gum | Polypropylene, polymer gum base | Break down into fragments |
| Wet wipes | Polyester/polypropylene fibres | Fragment in sewers |
Why the source matters. In Asia, synthetic textiles are the main source of primary microplastics. In the Americas, Europe and Central Asia, tyre wear leads (IUCN 2017). Tyre particles reach rivers through road runoff and through the air. One tyre additive, 6PPD, forms 6PPD-quinone, which is toxic to aquatic life.
India's framework. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (as amended) banned identified single-use plastic items from 1 July 2022 and introduced Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging. Microplastics as such are not regulated in India yet.
In the news
In the year before the 2025 Prelims, talks on a global plastics treaty stalled at INC-5 in Busan (November–December 2024), and UNEP chose 'ending global plastic pollution' as the World Environment Day 2025 theme. Studies on microplastics in food, water and the human body were also in the news often. That made 'hidden' sources of microplastics, such as cigarette filters and tyre wear, a likely question area.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Microplastics: The question is about everyday products that shed fragments under 5 mm, which is the size threshold that defines microplastics.