The National Oceanagraphy Centre have released a great article about micro-plastics in the ocean. They discuss how the visible plastic in our oceans is just the tip of the iceberg. The drink bottles and plastic bags that we see in our seas is just 1% of the all the plastic; the rest is the micro-plastics, tiny particles ranging from 1mm to 0.001mm. The sources being from industry, beach litter, road and tyres (micro plastics from the tyres wearing on the road and particles off of brakes), shipping and domestic.

The microplastics accumulate toxins and end up being eaten by the ocean dwellers which then ultimately ends up in the human food chain. There are examples of clams[1] and fish [2] recovered from fish markets have been found with abundant microplastics in the gut.

What is so surprising is that microplastics in the ocean were first discovered in 1972 in the western North Atlantic consisting of preproduction pellets and degraded fragments found in plankton [3]. In 2001 Captain Charles Moore published his discovery of an accumulation of microplastics in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre [4]. The evidence is slowly building for the accumulation of microplastics in human organs . Numerous studies of various species are warning of the leaching of minerals from plastics that can damage mussels, zooplankton being affected by eating microplastic and many other studies pointing out the dangers of microplastics.

The issue is what can we do… we have the whole reduce, reuse, recycle motto but that can only go so far. Perhaps legislation is the answer. It was not until consumers had to buy plastic bags in the UK that we had a 85% decrease in the number of plastic bags. Viable alternatives are required. If plastic products are to be made then produce them using just one, uncoloured material. Japan for example only allows clear PET bottles to be produced. Give incentives to recycle the materials. Legislate for filters on washing machines to capture micro fibres from synthetic materials; of better still find alternatives for fibres from plastic. Provide truly compostable bio plastics but make it simple to use. Invest in waste management in developing countries.

Plastic passes through the hands of many stakeholders, with responsibility for environmental contamination owned, shared, or rejected by plastic producers, product/packaging manufacturers, government, consumers, and waste handlers.

Microplastics What Are the Solutions

[1] – Li J et al (2015) Microplastics in commercial bivalves from China. Environ Pollut207:190–195

[2] – Seltenrich N (2015) New link in the food chain? Marine plastic pollution and seafood safety.Environ Health Perspect 123:34–41

[3] – Carpenter EJ, Smith KL (1972) Plastics on the Sargasso sea surface. Science 175:1240–1241

[4] – Moore CJ et al (2001) A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre.Mar Pollut Bull 42:1297–1300