Glitter = Litter
Glitter seems fun and harmless, but these microplastics will remain in the environment forever.
It is estimated that 171 trillion microplastic particles float in the ocean
24 March 2023
171 trillion microplastic particles were floating in the ocean in 2019. The quantity of small plastic pieces drifting around on the surface water of the ocean indicates the state of the plastic soup. A new study shows that the amount of microplastics continue to accumulate, despite all kinds of initiatives to prevent this pollution. In fact, since 2005, there has been a dramatic increase in the trend of plastic particles in the sea.
Many of these initiatives to stop plastic pollution at sea are voluntary measures implemented by industry. This is clearly proving to be ineffective.
MICROPLASTICS ARE DIFFICULT TO MEASURE
Microplastics floating on the ocean’s surface layer can be removed from the water with special trawling nets. The smaller the mesh size of these nets, the smaller the pieces of plastic that can be captured. Organic material needs to be separated from the plastic before the pieces can be counted. Through extrapolation, the amount of microplastic particles can be calculated for each square kilometer of surface water. If microplastic quantification is done repeatedly at several locations across the globe it is possible to discover trends. This is just what this new study has done; microplastic quantification at nearly 12,000 sites across all oceans over a period of 40 years, from 1979 to 2019.
MANY UNCERTAINTIES
Such large-scale studies usually come with several uncertainties, such as where, when and how often were samples collected. Also, samples from historical studies, were collected and processed using different methods, which makes comparisons of results difficult. Despite this variability, the researchers of this study were able to compile a global dataset with all available historical data to come up with an estimate of microplastic concentrations. This estimate was between 82 and 358 trillion microplastics, which would add up to a weight of about 2.3 million tonnes.
THREAT TO NATURE
The biggest threat of microplastics is that animals can ingest them. The ocean surface layer is just the location where most fish, marine mammals and also birds look for their food. Even small organisms (zooplankton and microalgae) ingest microplastics. These microorganisms are at the base of our food chain. So microplastics can eventually be end up in humans as well, when they eat fish.
The smallest microplastics, including nanoplastics, cannot be measured. These are potentially the most dangerous because they penetrate organisms most easily, and can cause damage at the cellular level. So these nanoplastics literally slip through the maze of the nets. We can’t count them, but we have to take them into account.
THE SITUATION IS WORSE THAN SUGGESTED IN THIS STUDY
It is generally believed that about three per cent of annual plastic production ends up in the ocean due to negligence. The researchers’ reference year is 2019 and the plastic production has increased since 2019. This means the figure of 171 trillion will be a significant underestimate of the true level of microplastic pollution right now. Up till 2023, far too little has happened to turn the tide.
The study expresses the hope that the announced UN global plastics treaty, an international legally binding agreement to be launched by 2024, will curb the production of new plastic.
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