Plastic Pollution Crisis: Contaminating Our Oceans and Our Health

 

Watch this video by Global News for a summary of the causes and effects of plastic pollution in our oceans

 

 

Have you ever walked into CostCo or your neighborhood grocery or drug store and really looked around? We are surrounded by plastic. Our consumer society depends on inexpensive and moldable plastic to make containers for our soaps, medicines, and food products. And plastic is useful as it can help safeguard people from disease or contamination and then once used it can be thrown away. The problem is, there are so many plastic items used every day that disposing of these items becomes a problem for our environment. One of the biggest issues today is that unrecycled plastic has made its way into our rivers, lakes and oceans. Plastic pollution is one of the greatest threats to not only the health of our lakes and oceans but ultimately to our own health.

 

Since the consumerism boom of the 1950’s, 8 billion tons of plastic has been produced but less than 9% has actually been recycled. Over the years many countries, including ours, have dumped garbage into the oceans as a cheap way to remove waste from our cities and now we are starting to pay the price. Island nations and coastlines around the world have tons of plastic garbage washing up on beaches. Plastics are also swirling in the ocean currents and have collected in massive patches bigger than some countries. Sea turtles, seals, whales, fish and sea birds mistake plastic debris for food or are caught in discarded fishing lines and nets killing millions of fish and animals. (Video: “Plastic pollution is killing these animals”, CNN.com ). Plastics will never dissolve in the ocean and go away like paper or metal, instead plastic debris breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics.

 

What are microplastics?

Plastic debris comes in all shapes and sizes but particles less than 5 mm are considered microplastics. And microplastics are not just found in the oceans. They are included in products we use regularly such as the microbeads in whitening toothpaste, and facial and body scrubs. Microplastics are especially hazardous because they are easily ingested and can be so small they are also found in our drinking water, seafood, packaged food and even in the air we breath. There is evidence in animals that microplastics can cross membranes and get into the bloodstream. Chemicals leached from plastic, such as bisphenol A and phthalates, are known to interfere with hormones, reduce fertility, and lower testosterone. Styrene, another chemical leached from plastic, has been linked to cancer, hearing loss and nervous system problems. In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement recommending families reduce exposure to these chemicals.(1). Although it is difficult to completely eliminate our exposure to plastics in this day and age, many companies are innovating alternatives and of course, we have the power of choice.

 

There are simple things you can do today to help our oceans and marine life and reduce your exposure to microplastics. The first is to stop purchasing single-use water bottles. Over 1,000,000 single use plastic water bottles are purchased every minute and will be thrown away just as fast. And bottled water is not healthier. Bottled water has double the microplastic level of tap water.(1) Properly sort your trash and put empty, clean recyclables into the recycle bin. And follow the motto: rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle. If we all do our part, we can start making a difference.

 

Photo credit: intellenews.com


What can we do to help the problem of ocean plastic debris?

  • Eliminate or reduce the use of single use plastics: water bottles, plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic utensils, dry cleaning bags, food packaging. Buy food in bulk and move to small reusable containers for lunch boxes.
  • Use reusable water bottles: Our school lunchrooms have water bottle refill stations.
  • Recycle properly! Remember only 9% of plastics are being recycled. Recycling helps keep plastic out of our rivers, lakes and oceans.
  • Attention Food Producers and Restaurants: switch to compostable containers and bags. There are many compostable containers that look and feel like plastic. Some grocery stores have already swapped out plastic bags for compostable bags to put fresh produce in.
  • Avoid products containing microbeads: face scrub, hand and body wash, tooth paste. Look for polythelene and polypropylene in the ingredient label.
  • Support plastic bans: Many municipalities around the world have enacted bans of single use plastic bags, take out containers and water bottles. Mercer Island School Green Teams have worked to ban plastic bags and are working with businesses to replace styrofoam take out containers with compostable.
  • Support and participate with organizations addressing plastic pollution.
  • Spread the word! Talk to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. The more information and discussion we have with each other the more likely we will come up with solutions to this important problem.

What can we do to minimize ingesting microplastics?

  • Don’t purchase single use water bottles!
  • Don’t heat food in plastic i.e. microwave. Instead, put food in a microwavable container and use a small plate as a lid. Heated plastics leach chemicals into the food.
  • Avoid plastic containers with recycle codes of “3”, “6”, “7” which indicate the presence of phthalates, bisphenols and styrene.
  • Opt for food items contained in glass, paper or compostable containers.
  • Eat fresh food versus foods wrapped or contained in plastic.

 

Learn More

Video Suggestion

National Geographic, Ocean Plastics – An innovative solution to remove discarded fishing nets: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/video/ocean-plastics/

 

Practical Ideas

 

Reference:

 

(1) Consumer Reports, “You are literally eating microplastics. How you can cut down exposure to them”, 7 October 2019, washingtonpost.com

 

Oceanic Society, “7 ways to reduce plastic pollution today”, Brian Hutchinson, https://www.oceanicsociety.org/blog/1720/7-ways-to-reduce-ocean-plastic-pollution-today

 

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