It's 10 rivers [1] passing through some of the largest population centers on earth. That is still a big problem. Micro-plastics is, imho, a scarier one since they're now showing up in many water supplies.

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluti...

The problem is that those populations lack the infrastructure and organization so they made the rivers ad-hoc trash disposal system. And it works too well for them.

It's not the plastic that's a problem. It's poverty and lack of organization of those regions. If humanity never invented the plastic those rivers would still be the most polluted (with population waste) rivers on the globe.

The reason I am reducing my plastics use in personal life is because of all the new issues with plastics we are discovering. I'm worried about unknown dangers of plastic. First it was 10 years ago we were worried about BPA, now we are worried about microplastics and pfas. What is next.

BPA-free shouldn't offer any comfort.

Manufacturers simply replace BPA with similar alternatives which aren't as widely known by consumers (BPS or BPF for example).

Next is nanoplastics. Present in bottled water, can reach every part of your body, effects unknown.

The fact that a large portion of the plastic ends up in just two rivers does not make the broader problem easier to manage.

I'm more concerned about the microplastics in my blood, to be honest.