(Not So Micro}plastics
What if your credit card didn’t just pay for your next meal…what if it was your next meal?
A study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund found last year that we’re consuming (via water, food, and air) about 5 grams of microplastics every week— that’s the weight of a credit card. If you’re not actively ingesting credit cards (and no judgment if you are…well, okay, maybe a little), you probably are trying to figure out how this could happen.
Hellooooo microplastics! Tiny pieces of plastic around the size of a sesame seed (5mm) or smaller that find their way into our food chain, bottled water, and even the air we breathe.
Microplastics can either be intentionally made (remember microbeads from the early 2000s? Spoiler: they’re not good. So ‘not good’ they’re banned!), in which case they’re called primary microplastics. Or created as a byproduct of other plastics; deteriorated by wear and tear (sun and waves breading down beach litter) they can be created from wear and tear (sun and waves breaking down beach litter) – secondary microplastics.
Plastic is what every diamond hopes to be: forever.
Chemically, plastic is a combination of natural gas and oil and doesn’t break down into organic compounds (at least not for hundreds of years). It can only be shredded, melted and re-formed into other plastic items (A.K.A. recycled). The reusability of plastic can be a great feature, but considering only 9% of plastic is recycled, that leaves a lot of plastic pollution to be sent to landfills where the chemicals can get into the soil. Ultimately, plastic just keeps breaking off into smaller and smaller pieces until they become micro- and even nano-plastics. The majority of plastic pollution starts out on land and ends up in our rivers, eventually making its way to our oceans.
The major sources of microplastics might surprise you:
Synthetic fabrics: about 35% of microplastics come from your washing machine! Synthetic fabrics (nylon, polyester, etc.) break down with every wash.
Car tires: Tires on the road slowly lose tread and microscopic pieces break off, only to be swept away by stormwater into a local stream or river which eventually empties into an ocean. This accounts for about 28% of microplastics in our environment. Some estimates have it even higher! (Oh my gosh! Think of all the rain we’ve had lately! Even more reason to carpool!)
Dust: Recent studies have found an alarming amount of microplastics in city air, and this debris, being carried by the wind, even ends up in more remote areas, like the Pyrenees Mountains in Europe!
Wastewater treatment: Facilities that treat our wastewater do a great job at getting rid of “organic material and microbes,” but that’s not the case with microplastics.
Another large source of microplastics are macroplastics, i.e. litter. A discarded yogurt container on the beach will slowly break up under the UV rays and wave impact. Further wear and tear can easily continue the process to produce microplastics. Animals can play a part as well. A bird or fish could tear a plastic bag into miniscule pieces, ingest some, and then carry them even farther out to sea before…well, pooping, and spreading those tiny plastic pieces even further.
Micr-Oh no!-plastics
Because of the size of microplastics, their prevalence has been tough to quantify. You’ve probably heard of that big garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas. It’s terrifying, but measurable. Microplastics can’t easily be seen with the naked eye and can even suspend at different levels of the ocean. Methods to measure the scope of the problem were only recently developed. Since, there have been slews of studies confirming that the levels of microplastics in our environment are higher than previously estimated— as in, a million times higher than we previously estimated.
One study found that 100% of the underwater creatures they studied (sea water salps) from different depths had ingested microplastics and, based on digestion rates, they had all ingested those microplastics 2-7 hours before being studied. Another study involving red crab had the same result: 100% of crabs studied showed microplastic ingestion.
But microplastics don’t stop there. Smaller marine creatures are eaten by larger ones, like fish and just like we learned in 7th grade science class, they make their way up the food chain to us. Microplastics have been “found in every marine ecosystem in addition to our food, air, and drinking water.” The average American consumes up to 74,000 bits of plastic annually. Because of this, they’ve even been detected in our lungs and our feces!
While there are plenty of studies that show the increasing prevalence of microplastics, the science is not as conclusive on the effects of that increase. Microplastics can block an organism’s gastrointestinal functions or interfere with vital systems like gill filtration. Additionally, plastic is a magnet for chemicals like BPAs, which have made headlines in the past decade for their links to cancer and bacteria that can collect in an animal’s body and cause infection or inflammation. Some blue mussels found with microplastics in their system also had “mutated organs.” From impaired reproductive capabilities in fish to changed microbe systems in our soil, the possible effects of such a drastic increase of plastic in our environment is starting to be seen.
But other studies have found no difference in organisms corresponding to microplastic concentration, while others have shown particular species have negative reactions to some, but not all, kinds of plastic. Like most emerging fields of research, more time and study are needed to give us a clearer view of how plastic is changing our environment.
On The Plastic Horizon
But there is reason to be hopeful! Many promising solutions are being developed and tested. Only time will tell which of those solutions are viable and scalable, but here are a few highlights:
Natural, spring-shaped “nanotubes” are being used in Australia to potentially break down microplastics into less-harmful compounds. They’re also magnetic, so they can easily be collected and reused!
19-year-old Fionn Ferreira from Ireland used magnetic rocket fuel developed by NASA in 1963 to create a concoction that, when added to water (both fresh and salt water) and stirred, attracts and clears up to 88% of microplastics from samples.
Memb
After it was discovered that jellyfish mucus attracted gold nanoparticles, a group of researchers thought it might do the same with microplastics and created the GoJelly initiative. Results have been less than stellar, and the viability of the project is questionable, but the nature-based innovation is worth a mention.
Some earthworms have stomach bacteria that “eat” plastic! One Agroecologist, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga, is testing whether those worms can be set loose on microplastic-tainted soil.
Convenience Culture
While there are possible solutions on the horizon, the most effective remedy is to reduce (or eliminate) the source of the problem. Plastic became widely-used in the 1960s, and many of the products wrapped in it today existed plastic-free just a few decades ago. Most plastic is created for minimal use yet lasts several lifetimes. Single-use items and packaging such as take out cutlery and water bottles have become synonymous with convenience, but this cultural shift has resulted in landfills and oceans full of plastic.
To reduce microplastic pollution, Illinois banned microbeads in 2014 and the federal government followed suit the next year with the Microbead-Free Waters Act. In 2018, the UK also passed a ban on microbeads, and several nations in Africa have issued bans on plastic bags. In 2017, India announced a ban on single-use plastics but walked back that ban in 2019 claiming it was “too disruptive to industry” at the moment.
But it’s not just about the consumers using the plastic. There are also actions that can be taken by the companies that produce it. Packaging designers could be “designing for recycling and societal process flow in terms of resource recovery,” instead of strictly profit and convenience. Many plastics could more easily be recycled and yield better-quality recycled items were it not for certain chemicals added during the production process to increase packaging flexibility or even just to add color. Designing with recycling in mind can help make high-quality recycled products for many iterations. Andrew Dove, a chemist at the University of Birmingham, points out “There’s a central problem around what we want versus what’s realistic.” Truly biodegradable plastics wouldn’t last for months on the shelf, but single-use items used at high rates, like plastic bags or take out containers, could feasibly be made out of biodegradable plastics.
Just Do It
Until those magical biodegradable plastics hit the market, though, here are some things you can do to reduce the amount of plastic in the world:
Take the time to recycle, and do it properly.
Use things like a Guppyfriend Washing Bag to catch those synthetic fibers in your washing machine.
Buy less synthetic fabrics, and wear things multiple times before washing them.
Shop in bulk to avoid single-packaged items (but try to avoid food waste!).
Use reusable cups for your water, coffee, tea, etc. Single-use plastic water bottles are a huge source of plastic pollution.
Support businesses that shoot for zero-waste business practices.
Donate to organizations that are cleaning up our oceans
Be vocal! When your friend scoffs at a flimsy paper straw, let them know why every bit matters.
When you pack your kid’s lunch with reusable food bags, you keep 540 plastic baggies out of the ocean.
When you commit to using paper or steel straws, that’s 584 plastic straws that won’t end up in landfills or seas.
When you take your fabric bags to the grocery store, you’re keeping 330 bags out of the environment.
When you bring your reusable cup to the coffee shop, that’s 500 single-use cups that won’t be trashed.
Plastics aren’t all bad. They can help reduce food waste by packaging smaller portions. They can decrease freight emissions, because they’re so lightweight. In the medical profession, plastics are absolutely vital because of their durability. But those k-cup coffee pods sitting on my kitchen counter? Not so vital.
Looks like I’ve got some recycling to do.