Different types of microplastics found in the Francisco Bay Different types of microplastics found in the Francisco Bay
Different types of microplastics found in the Francisco Bay Fibre
Fibre Film Film Pellet Pellet Fragment Fragment Foam in 2009.29 Foam Plastic fibres–polyester, acrylic, and polyamides–are
shed from garments through mechanical abrasion in washing machines and then drained with the effluent water.
The Norwegian Environment Agency found that emission of microplastic in wastewater from washing synthetic clothing is an order of magnitude higher than that from the personal care products and cosmetics.12
Experiments show that more
than 1,900 microplastic fibres are released from a single synthetic garment in just one wash by a laundry machine.30 Their microscopic size and buoyancy allows these microplastic pollutants to pass through both the coarse (larger than 6 millimetre) and fine (1.5-6 millimetre) screen filters that are most commonly used in wastewater treatment facilities. They then end up in sludge or in natural water bodies that receive the effluent. Researchers estimate that about 10 per cent of synthetic fibres present in the wastewater can pass undetected through the treatment facility.31
FILM 2%
FOAM 1%
FILM 2%
FRAGMENT 17%
FOAM 1%
FRAGMENT 17%
PELLET 0%
PELLET 0%
MICROPLASTIC PARTICLES IN WASTEWATER
MICROPLASTIC PARTICLES IN WASTEWATER
FIBER 80%
FIBER 80%
(SYNTHETIC FABRIC, CLOTHING, FISHING LINES)
FIBER
(SYNTHETIC FABRIC, CLOTHING, FISHING LINES)
FIBER FRAGMENT
(PLASTIC BAGS, PACKAGING)
FILM
(INCLUDES MICROBEADS, OTHER SOURCES)
(PLASTIC BAGS, PACKAGING)
FILM PELLET
(MICROBEADS, NURDLES)
Photo Credit: Sherri A. Mason/State University of New York at Fredonia Source: San Francisco Estuary Institute (2015)43
FRAGMENT
(INCLUDES MICROBEADS, OTHER SOURCES)
PELLET
(MICROBEADS, NURDLES)
37
(POLYSTYRENE, CIGARETTE FILTERS)
FOAM
(POLYSTYRENE, CIGARETTE FILTERS)
FOAM
Another source of microplastic pollution is the plastic debris from mechanical abrasion of car tyres on pavement that is washed by rain, snow melt, and street cleaning into natural and municipal drainage systems.6
On-going research focuses
on potential sources of microplastics. One monitoring and sampling investigation, conducted over many months of 2014 and 2015, suggests that atmospheric fallout delivers microplastics to whole landscapes, and to any closely associated marine environments. The study sampled an urban site and a suburban site in the region of Paris, France, and found fibres made up most of the microplastic deposition, that deposition at the urban site notably exceeded the suburban site, and that nearly 30 per cent of the fibres were synthetic, specifically made from hydrocarbons.32
UNEP FRONTIERS 2016 REPORT
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