MICROPLASTICS WITH A MACRO PROBLEM
Tiny plastic particles are causing harm to human and marine health. The above were found in a recent sweep of Northland's 90 Mile Beach. Photo / NZ Herald
Image and caption from Styngvi (an activist artist with some incredible work, which you can see here).
By now we all know that natural materials are better than synthetics for human health and the environment, but something that was new to me was the issue of microplastics and the extent to which these little nasties are harming our oceans. Microplastics (and their little brother nanoparticles) are teeny-tiny pieces of plastic which contain toxic chemicals that pollute the environment. Picture a particle about the size of a poppy seed, which is constantly becoming smaller and smaller over time. These little nasties litter the marine environment, causing irreparable harm to the marine food chain and also having negative impacts on human health as humans and other animals eat the fish that have ingested the plastic particles.
The plastic pieces last hundreds to thousands of years and also contain toxic chemical contaminants, which are a severe threat to our already fragile marine ecosystems. Without immediate strong preventive measures, the environmental impacts of these microplastics are growing worse and are doing cumulative damage to our marine ecosystems, which you can read more about here. Even if you remain unconcerned about the environmental impacts of plastic (which would be quite an unusual option), there are human health factors to consider. We are literally consuming some of the particles we release, as evidenced in a Vox article on the topic:
“The average person ingests over 5,800 particles of synthetic debris” a year, a recent paper in PLOS finds. And most of those particles are plastic fibers.”
Because microplastics are invisible to the human eye, and the scale of the issue is so huge, microplastics are something that have been easy to ignore in the battle to look after our environment. But the more we are starting to learn about them, the better we can stop them!
In order to determine how we can minimize our contribution to this problem, its important to understand where microplastics come from and how we can stop their release.
A large amount of microplastic damage comes from conventional plastic litter which breaks down over time, particularly in developing countries where there are not sufficient waste systems. Another source are micro-beads (which are often used in ‘scrub’ skincare products), or fishing byproducts. Reducing our plastic waste and not littering are fantastic steps, but most of us with the privilege to be able to do so are already doing this. Something that you may not know is that many plastic particles come from washing clothes made of synthetic fibres, and a way to reduce the number of microplastics is to ban using these materials altogether, or by improving filtration systems to prevent the leakage of these fibres into our waterways.
Scion’s study of microparticles in waterways in the Auckland region in 2019 identified that a whopping 87% of microplastics were from synthetic textile fibres.
Choosing natural, plant-based materials means that your textiles and clothing will not release any plastic particles into our waterways as they are washed.
Polyester, nylon, acrylic (and other synthetic fabrics) are made from plastic-blends and are a favourite of fast fashion houses. Synthetic blends are usually used to save money or to add other qualities to the textile (e.g. fire-resistant, soft, etc). The plastic fibres of these kinds of clothes release with wear and washing and turn into microplastics. It is a big issue as most modern clothes contain plastic, with plastic-based materials now making up about 60 percent of our clothes world-wide.
Whenever plastic-containing fabrics are washed, such as in the washing machine, the microplastics and chemicals inside these fabrics leech into our water systems. Because this process is so subtle and the microplastics are so small, they pass through our filters and start to do some serious harm without us noticing, which is building up into some severe microplastic pollution.
Once these plastics arrive into our oceans, they are ingested by even the smallest of our ocean friends, as microplastics and nanoplastics fall well within the size range of the staple phytoplankton diet of many zooplankton species, such as the Pacific krill. In fact, it has been found that 56% of surface neustonic/planktonic samples from the Mediterranean Sea contain microplastic particles. The poor little guys think plastic is food! The impacts of this obviously spread up into the entire food chain.
“Experiments show that microplastics damage aquatic creatures, as well as turtles and birds: They block digestive tracts, diminish the urge to eat, and alter feeding behavior, all of which reduce growth and reproductive output. Their stomachs stuffed with plastic, some species starve and die.” (National Geographic)
Some top ocean friendly tips for us as consumers are:
Minimize plastics. This is a given and is not always possible, especially in terms of medical needs. Just try your best here and don’t be too hard on yourself.
Buy less clothes.
Choose natural textiles (Linen! wool! cotton! hemp! All the good fabrics are made from plants rather than plastic).
The Cora Ball filters microplastics in the washing machine and is designed to last forever.
We need to consume less and our waste systems and materials need to change. Recognising the issue is the first step, followed by a complete rethink of our material choices and our waste filtration systems, including developing improved filters on washing machines and in our waste systems. It actually isn’t too complex; we as consumers need to buy less, and manufacturers need to produce products in materials that do not shed microplastics. The next thing is that we need to do is to wash our clothes wisely!
Wash your clothes less often and remove stains by hand.
Look at the option of using a washing bag like a guppy friend for your synthetic clothes (find them here), or a kora ball (which attracts microfibres so you can throw them into the bin rather than into our waterways (find them here).
Use your washing machine’s eco or the shortest wash cycle. The shorter clothes are washed, the less of an opportunity for microplastics get to be released (try only use the ‘delicate’ wash if you really need to).
Wash similar textiles together. Harder fabrics, such as denim, can rub up against softer ones in the wash, which can release the plastic fibres.
Ideally, we need a coordinated global solution to resolve this issue. We need leadership to come from industry and government here; the manufacturers of textiles and the manufacturers of washing machines need responsible solutions for the issues their products are causing. In the meantime, as small businesses and consumers with the ability to choose we can help by raising awareness and by starting with the steps outlined above. Better filter infrastructure systems at both the private, home-based level, and in the public sphere (such as in our sewage systems), could stop these particles from reaching the oceans. Another way to start to help would be through building awareness of the microplastic issue by developing a standard microplastic measurement and certification system (such as the ‘certified organic’ or ‘health star’ labels), that would measure how much plastic products allow to leech into the environment. This measurement would allow consumers to compare the environmental impact of each product they buy, and would hold manufacturers more accountable for the harm caused by products they create.
For such tiny little things that seem insignificant at first glance, microplastics are causing a huge amount of damage. They are not going to biodegrade but rather will keep disappearing into smaller and smaller nanoplastics. But if history has proven anything, it is that humanity can be adaptable and creative when required. There is some very exciting technology being developed, some brilliant research being done, and there is a real opportunity for improvement here! If we start with the small steps, we can start to build a momentum and save the fishies (and ourselves)!
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions!
Josie :-)
Sources / Further Reading:
https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/2019/11/05/microplastics-from-our-clothing/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12245811