Tiny, Big Trash
We’ve talked a little bit about plastic waste and how that waste affects aquatic wildlife and underwater ecosystems. We haven’t talked as much about what happens to that waste once it is discarded. Globally, we dump almost 400 million tons of plastic waste in the ocean each year. While you might be tempted to disregard even such a large number as inconsequential when our oceans are measured in cubic miles, this massive load of waste doesn’t just disappear once it's in the sea. No, it lingers, pilling up and polluting one of our largest natural resources for years after its dump date. So, what happens when as a society we regularly discard our plastic waste, garbage and excrement in the same place that nourishes most of our food? What happens when that plastic waste starts to break down?
Fig. 1.2 Illustrates the Water Cycle
The obvious answer is the corruption of that resource which in turn functions as a catalyst for widespread sickness and disease. Besides the fact that over 15% of the protein we consume as a species comes directly from the sea, all of our fresh produce is dependent on the redistribution of water through ocean dependent weather cycles. Water from our oceans will eventually become the precipitation that waters our fields and filters down into our groundwater reserves.
The amount of fresh water we have available at any given time is such a tiny, tiny amount yet we are doing our best to corrupt this resource at every stage of its cycle. From the use of human waste byproducts like biosolids to industrial or synthetic waste, we are introducing a wide range of chemicals into our rivers, streams and reservoirs. Forever chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins already contaminate so much of our environment. Plastic waste, too, has now been discovered in previously unanticipated amounts in our food, hidden in plain sight as it breaks down into microplastics. Micro-, and the even smaller category of nanoplastics, are incredibly pervasive. A microplastic is a piece of trash about 5 mm in size or smaller. If a piece is less than 0.1 μm it is considered a nanoplastic. Some of these particles are too small for the human eye to even register. These particles now make up a portion of air pollution, are found in our groundwater, in our animal population, both aquatic and terrestrial and even in samples of arctic snow. We are breathing them in, eating them and constantly making more!
We still don’t know how detrimental the build up of nanoparticulate in our bodies is though we have already seen ties to cardiac and lung diseases. Not only is this inorganic material being introduced into our bodies an issue, but plastic also brings with it a variety of chemicals previously bonded to its surface. Many industrial chemicals are using it as a vehicle to reach previously untouched places. Earlier this year, we discovered that nanoplastics can now be found in our blood. We are, through our waste disposal practices, poisoning both ourselves and every conceivable part of our environment. Plastic waste isn’t just about saving the otters and protecting our aquatic wildlife. It’s also about preserving our most vital resources.
Resources:
'Lost' ocean nanoplastic might be getting trapped on coasts -- ScienceDaily
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.9b04535/suppl_file/es9b04535_si_001.pdf
Microplastic and nanoplastic transfer, accumulation, and toxicity in humans - ScienceDirect