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Polar plastic: 97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics

March 16, 2024

Polar plastic: 97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics

Polar plastic: 97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
Global distribution of study sites and relative 13 species considered (red dots = Arctic sites; red line = Arctic species and samples; yellow dots = Antarctica sites; yellow line = Antarctica species and samples). For each species, the matrices analyzed are shown in a dot near the species’ picture. The articles considered analyzed pellets, stomach contents, pouch contents, and guano. The number of samples considered for each matrix is presented on the bottom, separated for the Arctic (red line) and Antarctica (yellow line). Credit: Frontiers in Marine Science (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1343617

Anthropogenic plastic pollution is often experienced through evocative images of marine animals caught in floating debris, yet its reach is far more expansive. The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly experiencing the impacts of plastic reaching floating ice and land, not solely as larger macroplastics (>5 cm), but as microplastics (0.1 µm—5 mm) and nanoplastics (<0.1 µm) that may be carried vast distances from their source or be ingested in more populated areas during seasonal migration.

A new review, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has investigated the scale of this issue, particularly with respect to seabirds who call these glaciated regions home.

Ph.D. researcher Davide Taurozzi and Professor Massimiliano Scalici, of Roma Tre University, Italy, embarked on a project to summarize 40 years of research into seabird ingestion of microplastics, from 1983 to the present day.

Across >1,100 samples, the researchers explored stomach contents, crop pouch near the throat for temporary food storage during foraging trips, guano (excrement mixture of food and metabolic waste) and regurgitated pellets of undigested food and other particles. Pellets formed the main component of the samples, followed by stomach contents and guano, while pouch contents were minimally present.

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Scientists Discover Toxic Microplastics in Every Human Placenta Tested in Study

March 10, 2024

Scientists Discover Toxic Microplastics in Every Human Placenta Tested in Study

Such widespread microplastic prevalence in human tissue could explain the puzzling rise in colon cancer among younger people.

Harmful microplastics have been found in human placenta, with some of them known to trigger asthma, damage the liver, cause cancer, and impair reproductive function.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the Toxicological Sciences journal on Feb. 17, examined the issue of nano- and microplastic (NMP) pollution in human beings. Researchers found that all 62 tested placenta samples contained microplastics, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue. The placenta is an organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. It provides oxygen and nutrients to the baby while also removing waste products from the child’s blood.

The most prevalent microplastic found in the samples was polyethylene, which accounted for 54 percent of all detected NMPs and was “consistently found in nearly all samples.”

Polyethylene has been associated with several health complications like asthma, hormone disruption impacting reproduction, and mild dermatitis or swelling and irritation of the skin.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and nylon each represented approximately 10 percent of the NMPs by weight. PVC has been linked to damage to the liver and reproductive system. The substance is carcinogenic. While nylon itself is seen as harmless, the material undergoes chemical treatments during the manufacturing processes that can pose health risks.

The remaining 26 percent of microplastics found in the 62 tested placenta were represented by nine other polymers. Matthew Campen, Professor in the UNM Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who led the team that conducted the study, expressed concerns about the steadily rising presence of microplastics and its potential health implications.

While plastics themselves have traditionally been seen to be biologically inert, microplastics are so small they can cross cell membranes, he noted…

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Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics, Study Finds

October 4, 2023

Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics, Study Finds

Researchers say tire emissions pose a threat to global health, and EVs could make the problem worse.

When contemplating the emissions from road vehicles, our first thought is often about the various gases coming out of the tailpipe. However, new research shows that we should be more concerned with the harmful particles that are shed from tires and brakes.

Scientists have a good understanding of engine emissions, which typically consist of unburnt fuel, oxides of carbon and nitrogen, and particulate matter related to combustion. However, new research shared by Yale Environment 360 indicates that there may be a whole host of toxic chemicals being shed from tires and brakes that have been largely ignored until now. Even worse, these emissions may be so significant that they actually exceed those from a typical car’s exhaust output.

A research paper published in 2020 highlighted the impact of tire pollution by examining the plight of coho salmon in West Coast streams. Scientists eventually identified a chemical called 6PPD, typically used in tire manufacturing to slow cracking and degradation. When exposed to ozone in the atmosphere, the chemical transforms into multiple other species, including 6PPD-quinone—which was found to be highly toxic to multiple fish, including coho salmon. The same chemical has since been detected in human urine, though any potential health impacts remain unknown.

The discovery of 6PPD-q and its impact has brought new scrutiny to the pollution generated by particles shedding from tires and brakes. In particular, tire rubber is made up of over 400 different chemical compounds, many of which are known to have negative effects on human health.

Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics, Study Finds

Particulate emissions from tires—and, to a lesser extent, brakes—are becoming a new focus for researchers looking into automobile pollution.

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How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat

January 5, 2023

How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat

(Image credit: Nailia Schwarz/Alamy)
Root vegetables such as carrots appear to absorb more microplastics than other fruit and vegetables (Credit: Nailia Schwarz/Alamy)
Plastic pollution is one of the defining legacies of our modern way of life, but it is now so widespread it is even finding its way into fruit and vegetables as they grow.

Microplastics have infiltrated every part of the planet. They have been found buried in Antarctic sea ice, within the guts of marine animals inhabiting the deepest ocean trenches, and in drinking water around the world. Plastic pollution has been found on beaches of remote, uninhabited islands and it shows up in sea water samples across the planet. One study estimated that there are around 24.4 trillion fragments of microplastics in the upper regions of the world’s oceans.

But they aren’t just ubiquitous in water – they are spread widely in soils on land too and can even end up in the food we eat. Unwittingly, we may be consuming tiny fragments of plastic with almost every bite we take.

In 2022, analysis by the Environmental Working Group, an environmental non-profit, found that sewage sludge has contaminated almost 20 million acres (80,937sq km) of US cropland with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called “forever chemicals”, which are commonly found in plastic products and do not break down under normal environmental conditions.

Sewage sludge is the byproduct left behind after municipal wastewater is cleaned. As it is expensive to dispose of and rich in nutrients, sludge is commonly used as organic fertiliser in the US and Europe. In the latter, this is in part due to EU directives promoting a circular waste economy. An estimated 8-10 million tonnes of sewage sludge is produced in Europe each year, and roughly 40% of this is spread on farmland.

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Plastic Apocalypse: Dangerous Microplastics Now Turning Up In Human Stool

September 10, 2019

Plastic Apocalypse: Dangerous Microplastics Now Turning Up In Human Stool 

Last month we revealed how high levels of dangerous microplastics had been detected in some of the most remote regions of the world. Now there are new reports that microplastics are turning up in human stool, a new study suggests.

The study, Detection of Various Microplastics in Human Stool: A Prospective Case Series, examined human stool from eight people around the world and found all had microplastics. 

“This small prospective case series showed that various microplastics were present in human stool, and no sample was free of microplastics,” wrote the team of scientists, led by Dr. Philipp Schwabl of the Medical University of Vienna.

“Larger studies are needed to validate these findings. Moreover, research on the origins of microplastics ingested by humans, potential intestinal absorption, and effects on human health is urgently needed.”

Schwabl said volunteers came from Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Finland, and Austria. Their daily food intake was the likely entry point for microplastic exposure. 

The study didn’t rule out that microplastic exposure could be coming from food wrappers and bottles. None of the volunteers were vegetarians, while six out of the eight had consumed ocean-going fish. 

All stool samples were examined at the Environment Agency Austria for ten different types of plastics. As many as nine plastics were found in sample stool, ranging in size from 50 to 500 micrometers. Schwabl said the most common plastics were polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

On average, each stool sample contained about 20 microplastic particles per 10g of stool.

The study wasn’t entirely sure where the microplastics came from or how they were ingested, but because there were various types of plastics, Schwabl said the sources could be from food processing and packaging to seafood consumption. 

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Plastic Apocalypse: Dangerous Microplastics Invade Alps To Artic, Found In Fresh Snow

August 17, 2019

Plastic Apocalypse: Dangerous Microplastics Invade Alps To Artic, Found In Fresh Snow

A new study has revealed that high levels of microplastics have been detected in some of the most remote regions of the world.

The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, is the first international study on microplastics in snow, conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

Melanie Bergmann, the lead scientist, and her team of researchers found microplastics from the Alps to the Arctic contained high levels of the plastic fragment, raises questions about the environmental and health implications of potential exposure to airborne plastics.

Watch: Farmers create natural straw intend to break plastic’s back

“I was really astonished concerning the high concentrations,” said co-author Gunnar Gerdts, a marine microbiologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute.

Bergmann explains that microplastics come from industrial economies where rubber and paints are used. The tiny fragments end up in the sea, where they’re broken down by waves and ultraviolet radiation, before absorbing into the atmosphere. From there, the plastic particles are captured from the air during cloud development, can drift across the Earth via jet streams. At some point, the particles act as a nucleus around supercooled droplets can condense, and travel to Earth as snow.

“Although there is a huge surge of research into the environmental impact of plastics, there is still so much that we do not know,” said Bergmann.

Bergmann noted how the scientific community was only in its infancy of examining the process of how microplastics get sucked up into the atmosphere then scattered around the world in some form of precipitation. She said, there’s an “urgent need for research on human and animal health effects focusing on airborne microplastics.”

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Microplastics at ‘alarming levels’ in Canadian lakes and rivers

July 19, 2015

Microplastics at ‘alarming levels’ in Canadian lakes and rivers

Microbeads just tip of plastic iceberg floating in Canadian waters

Tiny plastic pellets called microbeads have gotten a lot of attention as a major water pollutant, but less-discussed microplastics are equally concerning, according to new research being done in Canada.

“In recent years, they’ve been detected in a growing number of lakes and rivers worldwide. They’re everywhere, and often in alarming levels,” said Anthony Ricciardi, a professor at the McGill School of the Environment, who is working on a study about microplastics.

Microplastics are small particles of plastic less than five millimetres in size that are often found in bodies of water near large urban populations. Microbeads, which are used in toothpastes, makeup and body cleansers, are one part of the broader category of microplastics.

MICROPLASTICS JULY 15 2015 sample closeup

Biologist Lisa Erdle points out a tiny fake leaf made of plastic hidden in her sample of sediment from Lake Ontario on July 15, 2015. Her team is searching for plastics smaller than 5 mm in diameter to study the level of microplastic pollution in Canadian fresh waters. (Micki Cowan/CBC)

Microbeads are “getting all the attention, but they’re only one component to this,” Ricciardi said. “As time goes on, people are going to realize the importance of the other pieces, too.”

A 2014 study of the U.S. Great Lakes by the 5 Gyres Institute found an average of 43,000 microplastic particles per square kilometre. Near cities, the number jumped to 466,000.

Dislodged from clothing in the wash

The plastic particles in the Great Lakes include microbeads, but also come from other sources, such as bits of polymer that detach from clothing when it is washed, as well as granules from industrial abrasives.

 

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