Earth Today | Wanted: More research on microplastics

There is need for more research into microplastics – those small plastic fragments typically less than five millimetres that are derived from the breakdown of macroplastics, including plastic bottles, and which are a significant source of marine pollution globally.

So says Chris Corbin, programme officer for assessment and management of environmental pollution (AMEP)/communication education, training and awareness (CETA) with the UN Environment/Caribbean Environment Programme.

“Microplastics occur from various sources, so improving solid waste management and banning of single-use plastic will reduce that input to the environment,” he said, alluding to Jamaica’s recent ban on plastic packaging containers, including single-use plastic bags.

“However, we do need more research to try to identify our main sources of microplastics and fibres, as wear and tear on tyres and laundry water from synthetic clothes are also sources, as is domestic wastewater. Current wastewater treatment systems do not remove microplastics. Microplastics are also being found in terrestrial environment,” Corbin added.

“Monitoring is extensive and although risk, especially to human health, has not been fully quantified, we need to apply the precautionary principle. I don’t think we have looked at the personal care products in our stores. Our consumers are likely not aware, so any benefits are from actions being taken in developed countries and the producers of these products,” he said further.

The 2015 UN Environment study, Plastic  : Are we Polluting the Environment Through our Personal Care? Plastic Ingredients that Contribute to Marine Litter, revealed that personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs) microplastics are synthetic solid materials made from various types of polymers and chemicals.

They are applied in a variety of products, including shampoos and conditioners, shower gels, shaving cream, deodorant, eyeshadow, mascara, lipsticks, as well as some baby care products. Given their small size, they are unrecyclable once washed down the drain.

It is on this basis the “precautionary approach towards microplastic management, with an eventual phaseout and ban on their use in personal care products and cosmetics” was recommended.

The need for this approach appears to be borne out by data shared by UN Environment that a tube of face wash, for example, can contain over 33,000 micro beads, while a single plastic particle can absorb up to 1,000,000 times more toxic chemicals than the water around it. Added to that, an estimated five trillion pieces of plastic currently float in the world’s oceans, and 663 species of marine wildlife are affected by plastic pollution.

CARIBBEAN RISK

As to the immediate danger to the Caribbean and its species, a July 2015 UN Environment plastics and microplastics fact sheet notes, among other things, that:

- microplastics have the potential to move up through the food web and the potential to move on the dinner plate, with some studies showing that juvenile salmon can ingest two to seven microplastic particles per day, while adult salmon can ingest up to 91 particles per day;

- the consumption of plastics and microplastics by marine animals can lead to false satiation, starvation and death; and

- plastics and microplastics are composed of harmful substances, such as antimicrobials, hydro-carbons and flame retardants, which can cause significant changes in marine and biodiversity health.

Recommendations that have come from UN Environment to address the challenge include:

- a scale-up of best practices and technologies around storm and wastewater management to capture microplastics before they enter the marine environment; and

- stricter legislation to curtail the use of plastics and transition to prohibiting the use and importation of single-use plastic, which Jamaica is now doing.

The entity has also recommended incentives to manufacturers to reformulate products and find innovative ways to design packaging that can be fully recovered by recycling processes or those which are more easily degradable and less toxic.

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