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LAST WEEK, THE Dublin Institute of Technology launched a Science Foundation Ireland-funded project to raise awareness of the impact of microplastic pollution on the Irish coastline.
The aim of Irish Microplastic Awareness and Coastal Threats (IMPACT) is to empower young people and local communities to take action against the ever increasing volume of plastic pollution that we are producing as a society.
This project differs from other plastic awareness campaigns because its focus is not on the large plastic debris which we can see littering our beaches, parks, playgrounds and streets. Instead the focus is on the hidden component of plastic pollution – microplastics.
Microplastics
Interestingly, last weekend also marked Earth Day 2018, with the theme ‘End Plastic Pollution’ and the media was awash with articles on plastic pollution. The silent danger of microplastics however may slip through the net and undermine the optimism of the Earth Day theme to end plastic pollution.
Arbitrarily defined as any plastic debris or waste less then 5mm, microplastics represent a latent risk to health and the environment. These plastic particles can range from the average width of your small finger nail down to ten thousand times smaller than the diameter of a single strand of hair.
At this size and scale, microplastics can be ingested by marine species of all shapes and sizes. In the smallest of marine creatures for example plankton, the microplastics can accumulate in the digestive system resulting in intestinal blockages, starvation and malnutrition – similar to the accumulation of lager plastic debris in higher marine organism like whales.
Unlike the larger marine plastic these tiny fragments can be absorbed from the intestine and subsequently deposited in the tissue, muscle and organs of species that have ingested them. This transport of microplastics particles from the intestine occurs regardless of whether it was a whale or a snail that ingested them?
An unknown quantity
The longer-term impacts of microplastics on both our health and the environment is still an unknown quantity and something which needs significant research.
We know that microplastics can cause both individual health risks to organism with changes in immune response, liver function and respiratory rates begin regularly reported in science literature. However, the long-term population changes due to the presence of microplastic in our environment are still the subject of much debate.
It was this backdrop in which the question “have we broken the ocean?” was asked from one of the younger participants at our workshop. The question raises an important issue, can we recover? Have we finally pushed the ocean and environment too far?
The answer to the question will remain open for many years to come and may ultimately be something the next generation will need to solve.
Each and every one of us can help
One thing that is for sure is that we cannot solve the problem until the flow of plastic into the environment ends – and each and every one of us can help make that happen. We have heard for years the reduce, reuse and recycle slogan. However we now need to add a fourth ‘R’ – recognise: Recognise, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
We need to recognise the damage our plastic addiction is having on our planet. We need to recognise that large plastic debris can breakdown in the environment due to weathering and sunlight into smaller and smaller pieces which could potential have significant population effects.
We need to recognise the unnecessary use of single use plastic and microplastics which are needlessly added to personal care products. Finally, we need to recognise that the time has come to take action.
It is true that reducing the flow of large plastic waste into the environment will stop secondary microplastics forming from the breaking apart of the larger waste. However, those concerned about microplastics may also want to check their home for primary or intentionally produced microplastics.
Reviewing ingredients
To do that, you need to look specifically at your toiletries and detergents and review the ingredient list watching for some of the more common microplastic additives from the list below:
When you’re doing your shopping, don’t just think of the plastic packaging, but think of these microplastics and take some time to read the ingredient list before you buy your next batch of toiletries and detergents.
For more advice, contact IMPACT: The Microplastics Awareness Project or book an interactive science workshop in your school or organisation.
The time is now to implement your own action plan to combat personal plastic waste. This way we will no longer have to answer questions like “have we broken the ocean?”
Professor Gordon Chambers has been an active researcher in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) for almost two decades. IMPACT means Irish Microplastic Awareness and Coastal Threats. The project aims to raise awareness of the impact of microplastics on the Irish coastline by hosting interactive science workshops for children and young people in schools and community organisations.
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We all know the damage and toxicity of plastic and yet the same amount or more is everywhere when we shop – why is plastic not being replaced with alternatives? Have we any leadership at all?
Our current government and state bodies could not even be bothered to ban plastic micro beads even though natural alternatives are easily available. We have to be forced through Europe to implement simple health and environmental policies such as these. We are the environment so if we poison it we poison ourselves.
Microplastics should be banned. For starters don’t use anything with micro beads in it.
microbeads in detergents are easily banned or avoided
What about the microplastic fibres coming from our washing machine every time we wash our clothes e.g. fleeces, nylons etc
or the plastics from worn tyres and shoes everytime we walk/drive/cycle?
what about all the plastics that don’t get fully recycled or incinerated and break down into bits and eventually enter rivers/lakes/sea?
jayzuz, that’s my day ruined.
Polyputykettleon (PPKO)!!!!?
I really think everyone that shops should start to leave the plastic containers in the supermarket until the supermarkets get the message.
@Donal Carey: this isn’t about plastic wrapping. It’s micro-beads in cosmetics and toiletries. They are banned in the UK from June of this year but our government, chose not to ban them.
https://www.bkpgroup.com/blog/bkp-group-news/why-are-microbeads-so-dangerous
@EillieEs: Technically, Donal is still correct. That plastic bottle your shampoo is in, if not correctly disposed of (landfills aren’t even good enough), will eventually make it into water courses. Over time with constant wave action, among other processes, that plastic bottle will break down into micro-plastics.
@Donal Carey: true, and we should also buy less stuff, shopping is all some people ever do as a passtime, buy less, save more!
Free market economics rule the world. Profit at any cost including death of species and the entire environment. Or at least the environment that supports us.
But equilibrium will always be maintained. The planet will survive; we will not
@Kevin Slater: no great loss
There is another Irish legacy problem that people need to know about. When there was no refuse collection in rural Ireland many people used to just throw their rubbish into the stream and it went on down to the lake. In the days of paper and tins it was just a mess but now between that generation and the start of collections, the lakes were bearing the brunt. I heard many farmers declaring the flood would take it away. However with the onset of plastic bags for everything it means that in many lakes the bottom is covered in plastic, some with places of a few feet deep in not only domestic refuse but silage wrap and feed bags.. You could get an idea of the problem by seeing how much was caught in the trees after a flood. When you see a beautiful unspoilt lake it may actually be an illusion.
So you’re telling me that the recycling that we now pay for doesn’t get recycled and ends up in the oceans?
@Karl Phelan: these are ingredients in toiletries, toothpaste, washing powders and also in particles from nylon clothing. There was a bill in the Dail last year to ban them (as some other countries have done) but it was rejected
@EillieEs: unbelievable that our representatives would reject that bill. Complete incompetence. The EPA staff must be so disillusioned.
Our rivers and oceans are full of the medications people take like the pill that is urinated out of them and flushed out into waste water that’s effecting the wildlife in the rivers and oceans as well…
Polyputykettleon (PPLO)!!!?
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