Habits and Quarks 19:35Plastics: Understanding the Problem and the Struggle for Solutions
Twenty years ago, a chance trip to the beach led to a life-changing moment for Richard Thompson.
This marine biologist was conducting experiments on the coast of England when he noticed that all his scientific equipment was filled with plastic.
“We looked at the sand sample under a microscope, and within and between the sand grains we saw debris that didn’t clearly look like sand. And we confirmed that it was plastic. ,” said Thompson, who is now in charge. International Marine Debris Research Unit, University of Plymouth.
At the time, he coined the term ‘microplastics’ to describe tiny pieces of plastic smaller than the diameter of a human hair found on beaches across the UK.
A worker holds pieces of plastic collected from a beach in Spain. (Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images)
Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of their discovery, Thompson has written a new paper looking back at the more than 7,000 studies published on microplastics since their discovery. The aim is to understand how pervasive and problematic plastics can be, and what it takes to find solutions.
“I’m of the view that we actually have enough evidence to stop defining the problem and move on to solutions,” said Mr Thompson, who is known in the UK as the “godfather of microplastics”. Mary Creagh is a Member of Parliament with a PhD in Marine Ecology.
This paper was published in the journal Science.
What 20 years of microplastic research has shown us
Much of the early research was done by Thompson’s group to figure out where microplastics come from and where they go.
“We now know that they are found all over the world. They are found literally from the poles to the equator. They are found from near the top of Mount Everest to the deepest ocean trenches.” said Mr. Thompson.
Municipal workers remove plastic and garbage waste that is clogging the Buckingham Canal water flow in Chennai, India. (R. Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images)
Several recently published studies are investigating how microplastics are being found in unexpected places. For example, a recent study in Japan found tiny pieces of plastic embedded in corals on the ocean floor. Another study from the University of Toronto found an average of 138 pieces of plastic for every fish caught on Toronto’s waterfront.
Humans are not immune to the plastic epidemic. A particularly alarming study from Italy found microplastics in human breast milk and placenta, and another study from Germany found microplastics in human blood.
Thompson said it was not yet clear how this was affecting human health, but he believed it was likely causing harm.
“It’s clear that we’re exposed to particles just like any other part of nature. We’ve experimented with a variety of animals to see how they can have harmful effects. I have shown in my laboratory research: Why do we imagine ourselves to be different?
A spear fisherman dives into a plastic bag floating in the ocean off the coast of Lebanon’s coastal city of Batroun. (Ibrahim Charhoub/AFP/Getty Images)
We also know more about the sources of this plastic. Some are made from intentionally small pieces such as plastic microbeads and glitter. Significant amounts are released when items break down during use, such as car tires and clothing made from synthetic fibers.
“As you walk around and wash your clothes and textiles, literally hundreds of thousands of fibers are released every time you wash your household laundry,” Thompson says.
But the most significant culprit is larger plastic pollutants that break down, so-called “macroplastics,” such as soda bottles and plastic bags.
Costas Velis, from the University of Leeds in the UK, describes the problem as a “microplastic time bomb” caused by the “uncontrolled” use of macroplastics. “And if we don’t turn off that tap, we’ll never hope to solve the microplastic part of the problem.”
Velis and his team recently looked at waste data from 50,000 cities around the world and found that 52.1 million tons of plastic pollution is generated and dumped into land and waterways every year. Much of that comes from the 1.5 billion people who live in cities where trash collection is unreliable or non-existent.
Researchers sort trash collected on the shores and in the water of the Saguenay Fjord in Petit-Saguenay, Quebec. (Sébastien Saint-Jean/AFP/Getty Images)
“The scale of plastic pollution, as well as its distribution around the world, is very alarming,” said Velis, who holds a PhD in environmental engineering.
This research was also published in Science magazine.
How to solve the problem once and for all
With the United Nations set to conclude a global treaty to end plastic pollution at the end of this year, Velis says he’s hopeful the world is moving in the right direction.
“This is the most important chance we have as a planet and as a species to address the global plastic pollution challenge in the near future and in a decisive way,” he said. .
“It is inconceivable that individuals can solve all problems. It is inconceivable that countries with large-scale problems can leave their current level of resources alone to solve their problems. We need to see big changes on all fronts.”
A “garbage trap” used to capture floating plastic-filled waste along a river in Manila, Philippines. (Jam Star Rosa/AFP/Getty Images)
Thompson agrees with those words.
“There’s a lot of momentum in the right direction,” he said. “What we need science now is as crucial as it is to define the problem, to identify the solutions and to help the current focus move us toward safer and more sustainable uses of plastics.” It’s about making sure you’re leading.”
And Thompson urges more scientists to focus their limited research funding on focusing on solutions, saying they know enough about what can be done by then. he says.
“It’s not about eliminating plastics from all supermarkets and from our lives. Plastics certainly have many social benefits, but we have to start using them more responsibly. “We currently produce 400,” he said, adding that 1 million tonnes of plastic products are used around the world every year, 40 per cent of which are disposable items that can be easily replaced, such as water bottles and shopping bags. .
“So this is about action against large items that become microplastics. It’s about action against tires and textiles that we use every day that wear out and become microplastics. There is a clear path forward for the environment: action to ban the use of small plastic pieces in products.
