MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN Common sources of microplastics
In the late 1990s, cosmetic and personal care manufacturers began to market ‘microbeads’ as abrasives in skin cleansers, toothpaste, shaving cream, and similar products. Researchers monitoring water quality began to find microbeads in public water reservoirs and natural environments by the mid 2000s. Investigators were able to trace the particles to the personal hygiene use in communities upstream of rivers, lakes, and seas.18-20
Following public awareness campaigns
widely supported by consumers, some producers responded by agreeing to remove the material from their goods.21
The
microbead issue has attracted considerable international attention and generated significant actions to address the pollution, particularly in Europe and North America. However, similar particles are still being introduced into water systems in other regions. Without appropriate wastewater treatment to capture particles of that size, microplastic will remain an important pollutant given extensive use of primary microplastics in industry and the generation of secondary microplastics in many sectors.22
For instance, an abrasive application was designed as an alternative to stripping paint with toxic chemicals: primary microplastics are commonly used for surface blasting to remove rust, paint, and other unwanted surface coverings on buildings, cars, ships, and aircraft.22,23
While the abrasives are
used repeatedly, they eventually break down to unsuitable size and are discarded. During their useful life, these plastic materials can become highly contaminated with heavy metals from the surface covering, such as cadmium, chromium, and lead.19,24
Growing evidence suggests that fibres from synthetic fabrics are a significant source of secondary microplastics commonly found in wastewater and in the aquatic environment.25-28 The world’s consumption of synthetic fibres as clothing and textiles for domestic and industrial uses exceeded 55 million tonnes in 2013, or 61 per cent of the global consumption of all fibres.12
This reveals a sharp increase from 35.8 million tonnes 36
Mcroplastic filaments found in the deep-sea sediments9 Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum, London
Microplastics collected from a sandy shoreline in Europe (Wright et al. 2013)45
Photo Credit: This image was published in Current Biology, Vol.23, Wright et al. 2013, Copyright Elsevier (2013)
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