Microplastic scourge spreads
March 8, 2019 | Expert Insights
According to new studies by the University of Exeter, microplastic pollution spans the world, showing contamination in UK’s lake and rivers, in groundwater in the US, along the Yangtze river in China and the coast of Spain.
Background
Primary microplastics are any plastic fragments or particles that are already 5.0 mm in size or less before entering the environment. Secondary microplastics are created from the degradation of larger plastic products through natural weathering processes. Both types persist in the environment at high levels, particularly in the aquatic and marine ecosystem.
In 2014, it was estimated that there are between 15 and 51 trillion individual pieces of microplastic in the oceans which weighs between 93,000 and 236,000 metric tons. Compared to land, microplastics in aquatic ecosystems takes longer time to degrade due to the presence of salt and a lower temperature in the ocean. Plastic does not biodegrade easily because bacteria is not evolved to break down the carbon-carbon links found in it.
Analysis
New analysis in the UK found microplastic pollution in all 10 lakes, rivers and reservoirs that were sampled. More than 1,000 small pieces of plastic per litre were found in the River Tame, near Manchester, which was revealed last year as the most contaminated place yet tested worldwide. Even in relatively remote places, two or three pieces per litre were found.
“Microplastics are being found absolutely everywhere but we do not know the dangers they could be posing. It’s no use looking back in 20 years time and saying: ‘If only we’d realised just how bad it was.’ We need to be monitoring our waters now and we need to think, as a country and a world, how we can be reducing our reliance on plastic.”
The River Thames in London was found to have about 80 microplastic particles per litre, as was the River Cegin in North Wales. The Blackwater River in Essex had 15. Ullswater has 30 and the Llyn Cefni reservoir on Anglesey 40. Scientists found microplastic ingestion by organisms in the Mariana trench and five other areas with a depth of more than 6,000 metres, prompting them to conclude “it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution”.
“Microplastic has been found in our rivers, our highest mountains and our deepest oceans,” said Julian Kirby, a plastics campaigner at Friends of the Earth who helped collect water samples for the new UK study. He urged MPs to back legislation “to drastically reduce the flow of plastic pollution that’s blighting our environment”.
Dr. Christian Dunn of Bangor University who led the research said: "It was more than a little startling to discover microplastics were present in even the most remote sites we tested and quite depressing they were there in some of our country's most iconic locations. Reacting to the study, a spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said "The UK is a global leader in tackling plastic pollution and is already making great strides - banning microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, taking fifteen billion plastic bags out of circulation with our 5p carrier bag charge, and announcing plans to introduce a deposit-return scheme for single use drinks containers."
Microplastics are shed by synthetic clothing, vehicle tyres and the spillage of plastic pellets used by manufacturers. The physical breakdown of plastic litter also creates them. Rain washes them into rivers and the sea, but they can also be blown by the wind and end up in fields when treated sewage waste is used as fertiliser. Microplastics have shown to harm marine life when mistaken for food and were found inside every marine mammal studied in a recent UK survey. They also cause damage to turtles and birds by blocking digestive tracts, diminish the urge to eat, all of which reduce growth and reproductive output. Some species starve and die. It was revealed to be present in tap water around the world and consumed by people in Europe, Japan and Russia. The possible health effects on people and ecosystems have yet to be determined.
Assessment
Our assessment is that plastic and their additives act differently depending on physical and chemical context because their characteristics change as creatures along the food chain consume & metabolize them.
India watch
India is struggling to manage its huge plastic waste. It produces more than 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily, of which 10,000 tonnes goes to landfills, or is casually discarded. ‘We have found samples of microplastics in fish tissue, mussels, turtles, sea birds’ said senior scientist, at the National Institute of Oceanography.
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Image Courtesy - Raceforwater
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