“Today we use plastic – a material designed to last forever – for products designed to last minutes.”
~Upstream, non-profit organization
Many of us have heard the alarming statistic that by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish. The problem is insidious: plastics have been found in the digestive tract and tissues of marine creatures from birds to whales, from fish to oysters. This indestructible material with near magical strength and versatility can be almost limitlessly recycled, and should have been reserved for such uses as life-saving medical technologies and reusable food packaging in a closed-loop recycling system. Unfortunately, society treats plastic as a disposable item. Everything from pre-made salads, cut-up fruit, sandwiches, pens, batteries, shampoo, moisturisers, hand wipes and countless foods, drinks, personal care items, toys, and much more comes in single-use plastics: plastic purposely designed to be used only once. Ready-made food and drinks that will be consumed within minutes comes in a container that will last generations in our environment, and, as research is now showing, will become incorporated into the food chain. When you dispose of plastic, it doesn’t actually go away, as is evidenced on beaches the world over.
In the environment, plastic only breaks down into smaller pieces: it doesn’t biodegrade, meaning it doesn’t change molecular structure into something that can be reused by nature. Microplastics, defined as pieces of plastic less than 5 mm long, are especially hazardous and have come to be known as “mermaids’ tears.” These mermaids’ tears are the perfect size to be ingested. Hundreds of species of animals show evidence of plastic ingestion, including whales, seals, seabirds, turtles, sharks, fish, shrimp, corals, crabs and even filter feeders such mussels, clams and oysters. More than a million sea creatures die each year due to the ingestion of plastic. In many cases there is such a large amount of plastic in the gastrointestinal tract that the animal can no longer ingest and absorb enough nutrients to survive, eventually dying of starvation. Furthermore, microplastics have an affinity for toxins, specifically persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are a group of toxins harmful to humans and animals that resist environmental degradation and can persist for many years in the environment, bioaccumulating in the food chain. POPs include toxins such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. The risk POPs pose to human health is severe enough that in 2001, more than 90 countries signed a United Nations Treaty known as the Stockholm Convention, pledging to reduce or cease production and use of specific POPs. In addition to leaching out toxic chemicals used in the production of most types of plastic, microplastics also adsorb hydrophobic POPs. They are incredibly efficient at accumulating these toxins, typically having concentrations many times greater than the surrounding water. In a study by Mato et al. in 2001, concentrations of PCBs and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), a chemical formed from the breakdown of DDT, were found to be 100 000 to 1 000 000 times greater on microplastics than in the surrounding seawater. When these toxin-carrying ‘mermaids’ tears’ are ingested, they not only cause hazards to the digestive tract, they can also be poisonous as the toxic chemicals are transferred from the microplastic to the organism.
Microplastics have been found in water samples and in the tissues of animals from all over the world’s oceans, including such remote places as the Southern Ocean and Mariana’s Trench, which lies more than 11 km beneath the surface and is the deepest place in the ocean. Microplastics have several sources and are classified as either primary or secondary. Primary microplastics are plastics that are less than 5 mm in size when they enter the environment. Textiles made from synthetic microfibres, such as fleece, acrylic and nylon, slough off many tiny pieces of plastic when washed that drain into the sewage system where they are too small for most wastewater systems to filter. In a study by Napper and Thompson (2016), an average of 700 000 microfibres were shed in a 6 kg wash load of acrylic fibre. Microfibres, considered to be the greatest source of primary microplastic pollution, are estimated to be the source of up to 35% of microplastic pollution and have been found in every region of the world’s oceans (Henry et al., 2019). Two thirds of clothing today is produced from synthetic fibres. Recently there has been mounting evidence that wear and tear from car tires, which releases tiny pieces of plastic into the environment, may be a comparable source of microplastic pollution, with 2017 estimates putting it at 5-10% of global marine plastic pollution (Kole et al., 2017).
Microbeads, another significant source of microplastic pollution, are tiny beads of plastic used as abrasives in products such as cosmetics, shampoo, toothpaste and cleaners. Like microfibres, these plastic particles are too small to be filtered by sewage treatment plants and end up in rivers, lakes and oceans. Fortunately, the Canadian government banned the production, import and sale of products containing microbeads in 2019, following the lead of the U.S.A. and the U.K. Currently the United Nations is urging a worldwide ban on microbeads. Nurdles, small plastic pellets which are used in the production of most plastic products, are yet another significant contributor to marine microplastic pollution. Nurdles are typically the size of a lentil and enter the environment through spillage, both during production and in transport.
The majority of microplastics, however, are “secondary microplastics”: small plastic pieces created by the breaking down of larger plastic pollution. It is much harder to study the impact of secondary microplastics on the health of marine organisms and ultimately human health because of their variability in composition, size and shape. In all forms, microplastics pose a threat to diverse living organisms. The WHO describes microplastics as “ubiquitous in the environment” and states that they “have been detected in marine water, wastewater, fresh water, food, air and drinking-water, both bottled and tap water” (World Health Organization, 2019).
Disposable Plastic Water Bottles
Worldwide, an estimated 20 000 plastic water bottles are purchased every second, and the trillions of bottles being disposed of are a major contributor to plastic pollution (Laville and Taylor, 2017). Moreover, the water inside these bottles appears to be contaminated by the very pollution their packaging creates. In a 2018 study by Mason et al., 11 brands of globally sourced bottled water purchased from 19 locations in 9 different countries were tested to determine the presence of microplastics. Of the 259 bottles tested, 93% contained microplastics. Ironically but not surprisingly, Mason et al. report that the data suggests the microplastic contamination at least partially comes from plastic water bottle-sourced pollution.
Microplastic pollution is also prevalent in tap water. In a 2018 study by Kosuth et al., 89% of 159 samples of globally sourced tap water had microplastic contamination. However, currently available data suggests that overall microplastic contamination is significantly higher in bottled water, although the level of contamination is highly variable among samples, even samples from the same brand of bottled water or source of tap water. One of the most disheartening facts about disposable water bottles is that they are made out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is one of the most easily recyclable types of plastic, yet the vast majority end up as garbage. Even those that do get recycled usually end up being downcycled and used in products such as carpeting and packaging rather than going back into bottles. Water bottles are one of the most common forms of plastic found washed up on beaches.
Positive Impactful Solutions
*Choose products that are not packaged in single-use plastics.
*Bring your own bags, including produce bags, to the grocery store.
*Shop at packaging-free stores. Independent stores are popping up across Canada and beyond which offer a variety of products package-free. Bring your own containers and fill at the store. Here are two packaging-free stores in Victoria:
~Zero Waste Emporium -1728 Douglas Street, Victoria, B.C. (Grocery, Personal Care & Cleaning Supplies)
~West Coast Refill -1319 Broad Street, Victoria, B.C. (Personal Care & Cleaning Supplies)
*Tell your government representatives that you want action taken to address the plastic pollution crisis. Vote for parties who include a plan in their platform to eliminate single-use plastics.
*Support organizations that have a campaign to educate the public about the issue of marine plastic pollution and that are working to get legislation to ban single-use plastics and non-recyclable plastics. Here are some Canadian organizations with links to information on their marine plastic pollution campaigns:
~Oceana Canada https://oceana.ca/en?_ga=2.113011780.1980332101.1603205498-1798504249.1603205498
~Environmental Defence https://environmentaldefence.ca/canadas-plastic-pollution-problem/
~Plastic Oceans https://plasticoceans.ca
“In March of 2019, a young Cuvier beaked whale was found in the Davao Gulf of the Philippines looking emaciated and vomiting blood. It soon died and 40 kg (88 lbs) of plastic was discovered in its stomach. It was determined that the young whale died of starvation due to the ingestion of plastic. UNESCO estimates 100 000 marine mammals die from the ingestion of plastic each year.”
References
Henry, B., Laitala, K., Klepp, I., 2019. Microfibres from apparel and home textiles: Prospects for including microplastics in environmental sustainability assessment. Sci. Total Environ. 652, 483-494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.166.
Kole, P., Löhr, A., Van Belleghem, F., Ragas, M., 2017. Wear and tear of tyres: a stealthy source of microplastics in the environment. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 14, 1265.
Kosuth, M., Mason, S.,, Wattenberg, E., 2018. Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer and sea salt. Plos One https://doi.org/10.1371/joournal.pone.0194970.
Laville, Sandra, and Taylor, Matthew. (2017, June 28). A million bottles a minute: World's plastic binge 'as dangerous as climate change'. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change
Mason, S., Welch, V., Neratko, J., 2018. Synthetic polymer contamination in bottled water.
Front Chem. 6, 407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2018.00407.
Mato, Y., Isobe, T., Takada, H., Kanehiro, H., Ohtake, C., Kaminuma, T., 2001. Plastic resin pellets as a transport medium for toxic chemicals in the marine environment. Envrion. Sci. Technol. 35, 318-324. https://doi.org/10.1021/es0010489.
Napper, I., Thompson, R., 2016. Release of synthetic microplastic plastic fibres from domestic washing machines: effects of fabric type and washing conditions. Marine Pollution Bulletin 112 (1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.025.
World Health Organization (2019). Microplastics in drinking-water. Retrieved from
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/326499/9789241516198-eng.pdf?ua=1
