Activity 3.3.3 - My Plastic Use
Microplastics are synthetic compounds less than 5 millimeters big, about the size of a grain of rice, made of repeating monomers (Haab & Haab n.d.). They are extremely common in every day life. Because plastics are light, durable, and cheap, they are used in a wide range of products. Microplastics are commonly used in health and beauty products as exfoliants, viscosity regulators, bulking agents, fragrance beads, glitters, and shelf-life extenders, amongst other things. In medications they are used to coat pills. In synthetic fabrics they are used to make clothing more versatile and unique (Haab & Haab n.d.). Every time a beauty product is rinsed off or a clothing item is washed, microplastics can enter the wastewater. Microplastics may also be blown into waterbodies from terrestrial areas. Larger plastics are broken down through photo-oxidative degradation. Water treatment facilities lack the ability to filter out these microplastics due to their small size leading to the release of these microplastics into bodies of water. Once these small materials enter the environment, there is a plethora of ways they can cause harm both directly and indirectly.
Freshwater is one of the most important natural resources for humans. Ecosystem services such as fishing, water consumption, and nutrient cycling are all important uses for aquatic ecosystems. When microplastics find their way into freshwater, it not only harms the environment in that area, but human life as well. Microplastics can settle to the bottom of freshwater bodies. The presence of microplastics in the sediment has been shown to increase soil permeability, slow the warming of the soil, and change water movement (Haab & Haab n.d.). This has the potential to negatively impact any organisms that live in the soil or use it for any part of their life cycle. Microplastics also serve as habitats for microorganisms (Haab & Haab n.d.). This can lead to the introduction of exotic species that will change the community structure and may spread disease. Some microplastics may house hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria which can break microplastics up into smaller microplastics (Haab & Haab n.d.). Microplastics may be consumed by wildlife. These materials will accumulate in their gastrointestinal tract, causing a false sense of fullness which leads the organism to consume less food (Haab & Haab n.d.). Toxic substances can be absorbed into microplastics and cause detrimental effects to organisms, including death. Microplastics have also been shown to interrupt the endocrine system in many organisms leading to disruption in hormone levels and malformed reproductive organs (Haab & Haab n.d.). When an organism consumes something that it cannot excrete naturally, such as the toxins in microplastics, it accumulates and is passed on to the predator. Filter feeders are particularly at risk to directly consume microplastics. Predators consume contaminated prey and accumulate a larger amount of toxins than the previous trophic level. This process is called biomagnification (Freedman 2018). Because of this, organisms that do not directly consume microplastics are still consuming the toxins associated with them. This allows the effects of microplastic toxins to bleed into communities surrounding the aquatic ecosystem, including into human food sources. Through changing community structure, spreading exotic microorganisms, and spreading toxins, microplastics are destructive to not only aquatic ecosystems, but the environment as a whole as well as human health.
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