In the last few years, plastic bag bans are popping up all over the place. There is a strong movement to restrict the use of use plastic bags, but at the same time, there are groups fighting to stave off these measures. Lots of problems are blamed on plastic bags, but they seem pretty harmless for many people. (6)____This would have major health benefits for both sea life and humans. A study conducted in 2015 by researchers at UC Davis found that one quarter of fish sold at California markets contained whole or fibrous plastic in their stomachs. Further research is needed to confirm whether the chemicals found in plastic can transfer to the parts of fish most frequently eaten by people. In addition, unlike reusable fabric bags, plastic bags can take many lifetimes to biodegrade. Over that time, their light weight allows them to be carried long distances, causing environmental havoc along the way. One other reason why plastic bags have become such an ecological burden is our way of dealing with them at the end of their lifetime. (7)_ They often get stuck in conveyor belts, jam equipment and delay the entire sorting system, making it impractical for plastic bags to be collected with curbside recycling. As a result, some grocery stores provide collection bins to properly recycle plastic bags, but it’s easy for shoppers to forget to bring them back. Not everyone supports plastic-bag bans. Some argue those measures place an unfair burden on shoppers. Others say that banning plastic bags or charging for them creates hassles for store owners. Another major argument against banning or charging for plastic bags is that doing so would increase the use of paper bags. In some ways, paper bags are as bad or worse a threat to the environment than plastic bags. (8)_____. However, in order to biodegrade, they must be exposed to air—which does not happen in landfills. Producing paper bags requires cutting down millions of trees. Paper bag production also requires large amounts of water and pollutes the environment. If neither paper nor plastic bags are eco-friendly choices, what is a shopper to do? One option is to use biodegradable plastic bags. The most appropriate sentence to complete number 8 is...

Question

In the last few years, plastic bag bans are popping up all over the place. There is a strong movement to restrict the use of use plastic bags, but at the same time, there are groups fighting to stave off these measures. Lots of problems are blamed on plastic bags, but they seem pretty harmless for many people.

(6)______This would have major health benefits for both sea life and humans. A study conducted in 2015 by researchers at UC Davis found that one quarter of fish sold at California markets contained whole or fibrous plastic in their stomachs. Further research is needed to confirm whether the chemicals found in plastic can transfer to the parts of fish most frequently eaten by people.

In addition, unlike reusable fabric bags, plastic bags can take many lifetimes to biodegrade. Over that time, their light weight allows them to be carried long distances, causing environmental havoc along the way.

One other reason why plastic bags have become such an ecological burden is our way of dealing with them at the end of their lifetime. (7)_____ They often get stuck in conveyor belts, jam equipment and delay the entire sorting system, making it impractical for plastic bags to be collected with curbside recycling. As a result, some grocery stores provide collection bins to properly recycle plastic bags, but it’s easy for shoppers to forget to bring them back.

Not everyone supports plastic-bag bans. Some argue those measures place an unfair burden on shoppers. Others say that banning plastic bags or charging for them creates hassles for store owners.

Another major argument against banning or charging for plastic bags is that doing so would increase the use of paper bags. In some ways, paper bags are as bad or worse a threat to the environment than plastic bags. (8)_______. However, in order to biodegrade, they must be exposed to air—which does not happen in landfills. Producing paper bags requires cutting down millions of trees. Paper bag production also requires large amounts of water and pollutes the environment.

If neither paper nor plastic bags are eco-friendly choices, what is a shopper to do? One option is to use biodegradable plastic bags.

The most appropriate sentence to complete number 8 is...