What are microplastics? And how did they get in our water?
Plastic makes up the majority of trash found in lakes, oceans and rivers. Over time, plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller molecules until they become microplastics, a tiny menace.
Microplastics are pieces of plastic that measure 5 millimeters or smaller. That’s about at long as the tip of a sharp pencil. In fact, a typical pencil eraser is about 5mm all around. So, if a piece of plastic is smaller than that, it’s a microplastic.
But so what?
As scientists study the effects of these small pieces of plastic, they are finding just what you would expect—microplastics are bad for ocean life, which should be enough evidence against them. They likely have a directly negative effect on humans too.
Where do microplastics come from?
Some plastics were designed to be tiny and others become tiny when they break down. So, there are two types of microplastics: primary and secondary.
The primary type is tiny by design. If you’ve ever used a face wash that contains tiny exfoliators, then you have an idea what this type of microplastic looks like. In fact, prior to 2015, many exfoliating beauty products contained these plastics until the U.S. banned microplastics in beauty products.
The secondary type of microplastics come from larger plastic items—bottles, beads, cups, caps and the rest. When these items find their way into waterways, they eventually break down into smaller and smaller pieces.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration breaks it down for us:
Most plastics in the ocean break up into very small particles. These small plastic bits are called "microplastics." Other plastics are intentionally designed to be small. They're called microbeads and are used in many health and beauty products. They pass unchanged through waterways into the ocean. Aquatic life and birds can mistake microplastics for food.
How do microplastics end up in the water?
We’ve written before that much of the trash found in waterways is plastic. It gets there when people litter in or near water sources, such as fish nets that stay in the water or water bottles left on the beach.
Litter left anywhere can end up in the water too when it gets swept away by wind and rain or when wastewater runs into the ocean through sewer systems and overflows.
Are microplastics dangerous?
If you’re a sea turtle, fish or ocean bird, the answer is almost certainly yes. For humans, scientists have just started to research the short- and long-term effects of ingesting plastic.
According to National Geographic:
Microplastics have been detected in marine organisms from plankton to whales, in commercial seafood, and even in drinking water. Alarmingly, standard water treatment facilities cannot remove all traces of microplastics. To further complicate matters, microplastics in the ocean can bind with other harmful chemicals before being ingested by marine organisms.
For humans, we definitely eat and drink microplastics. Statistica tells us that “The average person eats, drinks and breathes between 74,000 and 114,000 microplastic particles every year - and that is considered an underestimate.”
Not all plastics are considered equal—the quality and chemical makeup varies widely. Some contain chemicals that break down readily and enter our body and others probably come out without much breakdown in the same way all other waste exits our system.
Turning again to NatGeo:
In laboratory tests, microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells, including both allergic reactions and cell death. But so far there have been no epidemiologic studies documenting, in a large group of people, a connection between exposure to microplastics and impacts on health.
If we know that plastics are harmful to sea life and cause problems—no matter how large—for humans, then we know we should take action.
What can we do to reduce microplastics?
What can we do about it? This is both the simplest and hardest question to answer.
The simple answer? We must severely reduce our use of plastic, if not eliminate it. We now have many alternatives to plastic, especially single-use plastic, including bioplastics made from organic material.
The not-so-simple truth? Plastics are everywhere, and individual humans like you and I share only part of the blame. I’m sure you can guess who makes all and uses most of the plastic—big corporations.
Still, there’s plenty we can do. If we simply limit single-use plastics, we can make a big difference. Globally, we use 130 million tons of single-use plastic and, by design, we throw it away.
In 2021, the New York Times reported that “The average American uses and throws away 110 pounds, or roughly 50 kilograms, of single-use plastic every year. Only Australians currently match American scales of waste.” And at the time of this report (just last year), “Only about 8 percent of plastic gets recycled in the United States.”
Inventory your plastic use
Take a walk around your house looking for plastic. Jot them down on paper, snap pictures with your phone or make a voice recording.
Go room by room looking for all of the visible plastic. The flower pots in the window, the reusable containers in the fridge and pantry, the board game pieces, the picture frames—all of it. Then sit and contemplate your list.
For some people, plastic items are life savers. Sometimes literally. If that includes you or someone you love, then please count those plastics that help you as the absolute best reason to preserve the use of plastics. Those products that make life livable for people who would have struggled before—those are plastics living their best lives. We’re here for that.
So, we’re not going to get rid of every single plastic item. And that’s not the goal anyway. We;re suggesting that you look for the most easily avoided and simple-to-replace items on your list and start there. Swap them out one by one, over time. And when it’s time to get rid of a plastic, ensure it gets recycled if you can.
Because those water bottles now will become tiny plastic particles later. And instead of drinking from them, you’ll be drinking the plastic itself.