The average person could be ingesting 2000 tiny pieces of plastic every week - the equivalent of a credit card - with drinking water the largest source.

The No Plastic in Nature report by Australia's University of Newcastle, commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund, suggests people around the world are consuming about five grams of microplastics a week, or just over 250 grams annually.

Drinking water is the biggest source of ingesting microplastic. Credit:Shutterstock

The study combines data from more than 50 studies on the ingestion of microplastics, which are plastic particles under five millimetres in size.

Drinking water is the largest contributor, with the plastic particles found in bottled, tap, surface and groundwater all over the world.