Microplastic Pollution

Tiny, Harmful, And Absolutely Everywhere By Amelia Hobgood

People are surrounded by tiny bits of plastic hidden within their everyday lives. These plastic bits may be small, but they pose a large threat to health and the environment. They are called microplastics. “Microplastics are basically residue of other plastic trash,” Environmental Science teacher Jeff Colborn said. These tiny bits of plastic come in two categories: primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are plastics that were already small to begin with. Things such as microfibers from clothing or plastic pellets called nurdles, that are melted to make other forms of plastic. The secondary microplastics are the result of larger plastics getting broken down, such as water bottles or wrappers. “Plastic is literally everywhere,” Colborn said. “It’s a pretty serious pollution problem.” Plastic surrounds everyone and it has “ become a massive part of peoples’ lives…. bottles, straws, lids, bags, and wrappers are just a few examples. Plastic is manufactured for almost everything humans use. The problem is that plastic is made to last for more than one lifetime, but it is marketed to be thrown away after one use. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade because it was made to last so long, so over time, it breaks down into small pieces instead. “The problem is people don’t know what [microplastics] are,” Biology Teacher, Christine Stricker, said, “and they don’t know about the different kinds of products we use that have microplastics in them.” Microplastics are all over the oceans and the environment, but they are also in many different products created by humans. Eventually, these plastic bits make their way into the food chain, contaminating more than just humans’ digestive systems. “There are reasons to believe that we are all going to end up with measurable amounts of plastic pollution in our systems,” Colborn said, “because all our ecosystems are contaminated.” The oceans are filled with these tiny microplastics, which leads to fish ingesting the plastic. When they do, they aren’t able to digest it. So ” instead, the plastics are stored within their body. If another animal eats the fish, the plastic will stay undigested within the predator’s body. This undigested plastic eventually makes its way to humans. Throughout

the world, it is estimated that humans consume 23 million tons of fish per year. When people consume the fish, they also consume the plastic that has been stored within the fish’s body. “Everything comes full circle and we use a lot of the environmental services for ourselves,” Keep Conifer Green member, junior Allie Westfall, said. But it’s not just the living animals that carry microplastics. Almost every kind of food comes in some form of plastic packaging, so microplastics could be consumed with anything. They could be ingested in foods like fruit, vegetables, or snacks. Microplastics can even be in the air and could be inhaled with every breath. Of course, they can be in drinks too. Keurigs are pots used to quickly boil water to make coffee or other hot beverages, but studies have shown that, when heated, the small plastic capsules used in Keurigs can have harmful effects. The plastic chemicals can act There are reasons to believe that we are all going to like estrogen and negatively affect hormones within the human body. At CHS, there are about 17 Keurigs end up with measurable distributed throughout various rooms, and these are just small examples of amounts of plastic pollution the harmful plastic items in the school. in our systems because Everywhere you go, there will always be microplastics. It could be at a all our ecosystems are restaurant, at school... or even in your bloodstream. contaminated. For the first time ever, scientists are detecting microplastics within human bloodstreams. These tiny particles were found in almost 80% of the people tested, according to The Guardian. A peer-reviewed study from the University of Rovira i Virgili discovered that microplastics may 25

All of the plastics shown within this photo will one day break down to become microplastics polluting the environment, oceans, or even your body. Photo taken by: Amelia Hobgood

latch onto the outer membranes of red blood cells, which can deform the membranes and affect the function of the blood cells. “My biggest concern about microplastics is the effect it could have on human health,” Water Treatment Engineer, Mike Schmitt, said. The health issues caused by Keurigs and the plastics they generate aren’t the only problems. It has been shown that exposure to some microplastics can cause toxicity throughout the human body. Sometimes there can also be metabolic disturbances, neurotoxicity, and increased cancer risk in humans. Microplastics can even release other substances into someone’s blood or organs. The impacts of these tiny plastics are tremendous, and humans still don’t know everything that microplastics could do to human health. Of course, humans aren’t the only things affected by microplastics. The environment takes a hard hit as well. Microplastics pollute oceans and waterways and can affect many food chains. Both aquatic and land animals are affected by the small plastics polluting their homes. Their digestive tracts can be blocked, which reduces their urge to eat, and alters feeding behavior. This can cause many to starve and die. “I think the first step towards fixing this problem is to stop dumping microplastic waste into the waterways and ocean,” Schmitt said. Of course, while it’s important to work on cleaning up the microplastics that are already in the environment, cutting down on the amount of plastic being used will stop the problem from continuing. By keeping the oceans and waterways clean, aquatic life won’t die and the seafood humans consume won’t be contaminated with microplastics. there are also solutions besides keeping plastic out of the water. “I think we need to focus more on our recycling,” Westfall said. Many plastics don’t actually get recycled and end up littering the land or oceans, but if done right, recycling could make a difference in the amount of microplastic that ends up in the environment. Fixing this problem will be difficult, especially due to the lack of awareness among all age levels. But if people work on using less plastic, recycling more, and helping others become aware of the issue, the problem will be much easier to fix. Anyone looking to help with this problem can find more information and environmental facts on the Keep Conifer Green Club’s Instagram. “What we need to do is change our attitude toward this stuff as a society,” Colborn said, “and then things can start to change.”