Scientists have done studies regarding plastics and how they affect seabirds in the wild and this new study shows the effect the use of plastic is having on wildlife in the U.S.
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Further, researchers say that most of the bans from individual states are just not cutting it. These bans tend to carry loopholes that allow “biodegradable” plastics, and many of them degrade just by a few traces before they settle in for long term residence in the rivers and oceans.
“We’re facing a plastic crisis and don’t even know it”,
one the researchers, Stephanie Green, from Oregon State University in the USA , said in a press release. “A part of this downside can now begin with brushing your enamel within the morning”.
During the research, the scientists used extremely conservative methodologies to arrive at a numeric figure of microbeads being dumped in the aquatic habitats of America on a daily basis – and that number is nothing short of frightening.
In the new analysis, researchers say there are eight trillion microbeads emitted every day in water streams in the United States – enough to cover more than 300 tennis courts.
Even the microbeads that are collected by WWTPs are still potentially damaging, as that waste is settled into sludge, which is often applied as fertilizer and can enter aquatic habitats via runoff. “We’ve demonstrated in earlier research that microplastic of the identical kind, measurement and form as many microbeads can switch contaminants to animals and trigger poisonous results”.
“We argue that the scientific evidence regarding microplastic supports legislation calling for a removal of plastic microbeads from personal care products”, said Rochman.
Microbeads could also be causing coral to starve to death, a March study found. When coral polyps confuse the beads with real food, the plastic can clog up their digestive systems and hinder their ability to digest the nutrients they need. But because they’re so tiny, when you’re at the beach, you don’t notice a microbead like you’d notice a plastic bottle cap or a candy wrapper floating along the shore.
The paper offers an estimate of microbeads in the environment, not a definite number, noted lead author Chelsea Rochman.
In August, Canada announced steps to “prohibit the manufacture, import, and sale of “personal-care” products that contain them”. Companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble have pledged to stop using microbeads in their “rinse-off personal care products”-such as face wash”.
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“New wording should ensure that a material that is persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxic is not added to products designed to go down the drain”, they wrote in the study.
