Continuing from last week's interview (which if you haven't seen, you can check out here) I wanted to broaden the topic a bit and really focus in on the problem as a whole. Because to be honest, I had never heard of the microplastic issue until a month ago, but looking further into it suggests that this really is a major threat to our underwater ecosystems. There's the plastic we can see, but now, we also have to be aware of the plastic we can't see. So, let's talk about microplastics, where they come from, and what they do.
What are microplastics?
Before we get into their effects, we need to talk about what exactly microplastics are. Because like I said, before about a month ago, I had never heard of them, and I'm sure many of you are in the same position. Lucky for us, the definition of a microplastic is really quite simple: they're plastics that are shorter than five millimeters long. They can range anywhere from the size of a sesame seed to nearly microscopic, meaning that unlike regular plastic, they're hard to track.
These plastics are typically introduced into our oceans via two different means: regular plastics, when subjected to ocean conditions, begin to break down. Unfortunately, they don't break down in the normal sense (like we see with biodegradable materials) but rather into smaller and smaller pieces of identical plastic. Eventually, as they continue to break into smaller and smaller pieces, we get microplastics. It should be noted that only some plastics do this, hence the reason why we still see plastic from many years ago in its original form. Unfortunately, the second way microplastics are created is done on purpose.
Microbeads
Companies that manufacture products like makeup, sunscreen, and toothpaste often create these microplastics themselves, utilizing them to make their products lighter and more effective. They have also been used in soaps to rub dirt and debris off the skin. Even though they've been given the name "microbeads" their effect, once in the ocean, remains very much the same as other microplastics (which we will get into). Lucky for those of us who live in the U.S., the use of microbeads in these kinds of products was banned in 2015 by the Obama Administration. Companies outside the U.S. have also pledged to reduce their use of the product, but unfortunately lots of these plastics are still being produced.
So, What do they do?
Now that we've got an idea of what microplastics are, and where they come from, we can talk about the effects that they have. And, to be honest, not much is known about the real problems these microplastics cause. Research by organizations like NOAA is still ongoing, and until it's fully completed we may never know the true scale of this issue. Thus far, however, the results have not been positive. Here are some of the problems microplastics have been found to cause:
Chemical attraction- organic pollutants like pesticides and dioxins, present at ocean surfaces in low concentration, can attach to the surface of these plastic particles. Because these plastics are so small, many animals can mistake them for food like krill, ingesting them along with the chemicals they carry. Not only can the plastic scratch at the linings of their organs (even at such low size) but they simultaneously poison the animals. And, if fish or others animals that we eat accidentally ingest these plastics, then the chemicals make their way back to us.
Chemical breakdown- BPA, or Bisphenol A is a chemical used in many common plastic products. As the product breaks down into smaller and smaller microplastics, the chemical is released into ocean water. Over time, it can be absorbed through the skin of various marine wildlife. Now, we don't quite have a complete understanding of what exactly this chemical does to the bodies of animals, but the few studies that have been conducted connect it to heart disease, diabetes, liver abnormalities, and developmental problems in humans. Obviously, we don't want these chemicals in us, so it's pretty safe to say that we don't want them in animals, or the food we eat, either.
Home for bacteria- this one is quite similar to regular plastics, but in an even stronger sense. Because microplastics are so small and so numerous, they provide tons of surface area for various organisms to latch on to. The plastics can then carry these organisms (and bacterial diseases) to parts of the world that they may have never been before, spreading both the disease and possible invasive species along the way.
And on top of these, microplastics have many of the same effects that normal plastic does. If you want to read about those, you can click here.
The Scale
When talking about such a tiny pollutant, it can be hard to really understand why such a small item could have such large effects. And, in truth, if these microplastics weren't used and dumped into the ocean in such large numbers, they probably wouldn't have any effect at all. But, according to an article by Popular Science, an estimated 808 trillion pieces of these plastics are used every single day. As the article says, about 99% of these microbeads are filtered out, and mostly unintentionally used in fertilizer. The 1%, or 8 trillion microbeads, find their way into water sources. Because of rain runoff, much of the microbeads that were previously filtered out also make their way into the water, increasing the numbers drastically. And this, sadly, happens every single day.
Conclusion
Small in size, large in effect. That's the key takeaway here. Because even though these plastics are small, in quantities like the ones found in our oceans they pose very serious threats, both for marine wildlife, and for us. So, what can we do about it? Well, like many other environmental problems, the control always falls back to the consumer. There are many conscious, beneficial changes that we can make in our everyday lives that will not only help to limit the amount of plastics dumped into the oceans, but make up for the plastic that's already there. Next week, I'll be talking about the ways we can avoid the use of microplastics, as well as cut down on our use of plastics in general. But until then, please remember: the products we use, no matter how small, can have a very, very large effect.
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.est.5b03909
https://www.popsci.com/what-are-microbeads-and-why-are-they-illegal
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-reduce-exposure-to-bpa-1204017
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-microplastics-1204133
Images:
https://financialtribune.com/articles/people-environment/66102/microplastics-latest-threat-to-oceans-worldwide
https://sen.world/articles/ten-disguised-microplastics-avoid-want-save-oceans/
http://archipelago.gr/en/our-work/laboratory-research/microplastics/
https://inhabitat.com/ecouterre/which-personal-care-brands-are-still-polluting-the-oceans-with-microbeads/
http://thescienceexplorer.com/nature/throw-out-toothpaste-full-microbeads
http://providencetrade.com/plastic-in-the-ocean/
http://tuftythecat.blogspot.com/2013/05/poisonous-divisionals-hypothesis.html
http://kitchenboy.net/blog/bpa-unknown-danger/
https://abcnews.go.com/Health
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/microplastics-in-sea-salt-a-growing-concern
http://www.choicesdomatter.org/the-guy-in-the-glass/
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