The Truth About Microplastic Pollution

Photo by Alamy Stock Photos

The number of microplastics in our oceans now outnumber the stars in our galaxy by 500 times according to the United Nations.

What are microplastics and why should we care?

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic less than 5mm in length that come from a wide variety of sources including the personal care products we use, our laundry when we wash clothes made up of synthetic fibers such as polyesters, and even the larger pieces of plastic that end up in our oceans and breakdown into millions of smaller pieces due to wave action, sunlight, and other physical factors.

Despite their small size, microplastics are a huge global issue as they are now ubiquitous in coastal waters, sediments, and even the organisms that inhabit marine environments. According to the Plastic Oceans Foundation, the physiochemical properties of microplastics allows them to attract toxic chemicals that have been released into the environment from years of industrial and agricultural pollution. These chemically coated microplastics are then ingested by organisms as small as zooplankton and they progressively increase in concentration as they move up the food chain – a food chain many of us that enjoy seafood are a part of!

My trip to the East Coast of Canada

Photo by Quoddy Link Marine

In August of 2019, I traveled to St.

Andrews, New Brunswick, a small town right by the sea for a two-week field biology course through the University of Guelph. I spent the entire first week of my trip exploring, sampling, and soaking in the rich biodiversity of the marine ecosystems.

However, it was also on this trip that I was confronted with the reality of plastic pollution in our oceans and the profound impact it is having on marine life. Seeing a plastic bag and water bottle floating just a mere 25m away from a humpback whale mother and her calf was definitely a hard pill to swallow.

My research on microplastics

For the second week of my trip, I was inspired to look further into the impact plastic pollution has on marine life, so I conducted an independent research project on the accumulation of microplastics in the tissues of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus).

Blue mussels are often used as a model organism for microplastic research because their filter-feeding activity directly exposes them to microplastics in their environment. These mussels are often unable to flush out all of the microplastics they ingest so a large portion of the particles accumulates in their tissues. Microplastic exposure has been found to have negative effects on mussels as studies have shown drastic decreases in various cellular processes and functions, filtering activity, and byssal thread production

For my research project, I collected blue mussels and horse mussels from a rocky intertidal shoreline in Green’s Point, New Brunswick during low tide (pictured on the right). I took these specimens back to the lab to extract the microplastics from their tissues using chemical digestion with a strong base (i.e. 10% KOH), followed by vacuum filtration.

Pictured below are small glass microfiber filter papers, approximately 5cm in diameter. On top of each of these filter papers are the microplastic particles that were extracted from the tissues of three small blue mussels. A shocking number of microplastic beads, fibers, and pellets were extracted from both species, many of which could be seen without even the use of microscope! I found an average of 22.47 microplastics in the tissues of every blue mussel and 20.50 in every horse mussel.

Ways you can get involved

Although a plastic-free world is difficult to imagine right now, especially when plastic is an integral part of our everyday lives. But change is possible if we all work towards a more eco-friendly and sustainable future. This change starts with us, so I encourage each and every one of you to look at ways you can reduce plastic consumption on an individual level.

For more inspiration and ideas on easy ways you can eliminate plastic from various aspects of your life, visit the Plastic Pollution Coalitions website at https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/

Here are some other amazing organizations that work towards raising awareness about plastic pollution, organizing worldwide cleanups, furthering research, and more that you could get involved with or donate to.

• https://theoceancleanup.com/

• https://plasticoceans.ca/

• https://www.5gyres.org/

• https://www.surfrider.org/
  

References:

Canesi, L., Ciacci, C., Bergami, E. (2015). Evidence for immunomodulation and apoptotic processes induced by cationic polystyrene nanoparticles in the hemocytes of themarine bivalve Mytilus. Mar. Environ. Res. 111, 329–347

Green, D., Colgan, T., Thompson, R., Carolan, J. (2019). Exposure to microplastics reduces attachment strength and alters haemolymph proteome of blue mussels (Mytillus edulis). Environ. Pollut. 246, 423-434.

Li, J., Qu, X., Su, L., Zhang, W., Yang, D., Kolandhasamy, P., Li, D., Shi, H. (2016). Microplastics in mussels along the coastal waters of China. Environ. Pollut. 214, 177-184.

Mallos, N., Jones, J. S., Kollar, S., & Hogge, K. (2019, October 2). Plastics in the Ocean. Retrieved from https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/.Microplastics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ocean.org/our-work/research/microplastics/.

Qu, X., Lei, S., Li, H., Liang, M., Shi, H. (2018). Assessing the relationship between the abundance and properties of microplastics in water and in mussels. Sci. of the Tot. Environ.Seed, R. (1996). Patterns of biodiversity in the macro-invertebrate fauna associated with mussel patches on rocky shores. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U. K. 76 (1), 203-210.

'Turn the tide on plastic' urges UN, as microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy | UN News. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/02/552052-turn-tide-plastic-urges-un-microplastics-seas-now-outnumber-stars-our-galaxy#.WLA81BLyvBJ.

Wegner, A., Besseling, E., Foekema, E.M., Kamermans, P., Koelmans, A.A. (2012). Effects of nanopolystyrene on the feeding behavior of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis L.). Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 31, 2490–2497.