Microplastics: The Invisible Danger

Believe it or not, your skin cleanser, body scrub and other items in your bathroom cabinet could end up in the miasma of marine plastic floating in the oceans – and ultimately in the cells of marine animals.

Even your cold weather fleece may be a culprit. When a polyester or other synthetic garment is laundered, it sheds tiny degraded pieces of plastic invisible to the naked eye. These microplastic fibers are also found in abrasive paint removers and personal care products, which also find their way into coastal waters. In personal care products, microplastics are usually in the form of polyethylene microbeads. Polyethylene appears on the federal Household Products Database (seati.ms/nx3jzk) in over 90 items including toothpaste.

While larger plastic debris tends to float on the surface, microplastics (smaller than one millimeter) are found in water columns and on the seabed. This broad distribution plus their smaller size means a wide variety of marine organisms are exposed to and ingest these microplastic particles.

As plastic items break down to micro sizes, they act like sponges for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), anti-microbials and plasticizers – may be released into the ocean where they act like sponges for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Microplastic particles can hold concentrations of PCBs more than one million times higher than those in surrounding water. These minute pieces of plastic are easily ingested by marine creatures and absorbed into their cells, finding a permanent place in the marine food chain. Microplastics have turned up in samples taken from every ocean on the planet, and species from the bottom to the top of the marine food chain have been found to ingest these tiny particles – from sharks, seabirds and turtles to filter-feeders and krill.

MERI is launching a microplastics monitoring pilot program in Blue Hill Bay during the 2012 monitoring season to determine their possible role in the contamination of the Blue Hill Bay food web. MERI has been concerned about plastics pollution since the enormous oceanic plastics gyres were discovered in 1997. Through our lecture series and innovative educational initiatives, we are raising public awareness about the harmful effects of plastic pollution and encouraging reduction of plastic use on the Blue Hill peninsula and nationwide.

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