Microplastics Impacts

*An excerpt from Lisa Erdle's article in Georgian Bay Forever's Winter 2018 issue. Lisa Erdle is a PhD student in the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto.

The influx of plastic into the Great Lakes likely began over half a century ago, when industrial plastic production took off. Now, showing no signs of slowing down, annual plastic production has reached around 300 million metric tons after having doubled in the last 15 years. It is estimated that 60% of all plastics ever produced have either been diverted to landfills or accumulated in the environment. Many of these are microplastics, derived from plastic debris breaking down into small fragments or entering the environment as microscopic particles.

Measuring how many pieces of plastic are in the environment is not an easy task. To quantify floating plastic, I have towed fine-mesh nets aboard research vessels and boats conducting citizen science, such as the youth training tall ships of Toronto Brigantine. Quantifying the number of microplastics can be time consuming – particles are individually separated, sorted, and counted.

While information on microplastics in the Great Lakes is limited compared to marine environments like the ocean gyres, a study on three of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Erie) showed the average abundance in surface water was approximately 43,000 microplastic particles per square kilometer. In 2014, surface water was sampled in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the rivers that feed into them. Recorded abundances of microplastics were between 90,000 and 6.7 million particles per square kilometer. These levels of microplastics are similar to and even exceed concentrations found in ocean gyres like the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”

The kinds of microplastics found in these studies — largely fibers, fragments and spheres — are distinct, and tell a story of the people that inhabit the Great Lakes Basin.

*An excerpt from Lisa Erdle's article in Georgian Bay Forever's Winter 2018 issue. Lisa Erdle is a PhD student in the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto.

Microfibres (ers) are some of the most common microplastics in the Great Lakes. Derived from synthetic textiles (e.g. polyester, acrylic, polypropylene, polyamide and polyethylene), microfibers may enter the environment in many ways.

One known pathway is shedding from clothing, with studies on synthetic textiles showing that some articles can shed 100,000 microfibers in a single wash. While wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may capture up to 90% of microfibers entering these facilities, a recent study in the United States showed that a single WWTP can discharge up to 5 million microplastic particles per day, even when serving catchment areas of around 100,000 people.

And with approximately 34 million people living in the Great Lakes Basin, the total load of microfibers entering natural waterways is substantial.

An excerpt from Lisa Erdle's article In the Georgian Bay Forever's Rochman LabWinter 2018 issue. Lisa Erdle is a PhD student in the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto.

In my PhD research, I am leading a project funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), in collaboration with Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and Environment Canada and Climate Change (ECCC) to better understand contamination and effects of microfibers and associated chemicals in freshwater habitats. Thus far, I have sampled fish across Lake Ontario and Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, and will quantify microplastic ingestion and determine if microplastics are a source of emerging contaminants to these fish in a freshwater food chain. Currently there is little known about microplastics in Georgian Bay, and impacts to wildlife in the Great Lakes, and my research will fill some of these gaps.

Contaminants such as flame retardants are increasingly found in the Great Lakes, and are of growing concern in Canada. Some of these contaminants are commonly added to synthetic fibers and textiles during manufacturing. My PhD research specifically aims to investigate the contamination and impacts of microfibers, and any associated chemical contamination of fish. The preliminary results of my research are expected in the spring, and the research is anticipated to be published in the fall of 2018.

Legislation to ban microbeads in Canada will come into effect in July 2018. While this is an important move to reduce microplastics emissions, this ban only removes microplastics from personal care products, e.g., microbeads in toothpaste, face wash, etc. The greater challenge will be to work towards solutions that reduce microfibers, the far more prevalent microplastic in the Great Lakes.

Microscopic pieces of plastic and fibres are getting into Georgian Bay through many methods including washing machines. Reduction is possible, but the method needs to be tested and there are ways you can help. GBF is looking to implement a project starting in 2019 called Divert & Capture: The fight to keep microplastics out of our water, as noted by the Parry Sound North Star.

This project is anticipated to cost over $100, 000 a year to run and while we have asked for a significant amount in funding from the government, it leaves just over $50,000 for GBF to offset through monetary support and gifts-in kind from our numerous partners.

We need your help to ensure this program can move forward! When you provide a charitable gift, it allows GBF to focus on urgent and pressing issues, like microplastics/fibres diversion, and allows us to find cutting-edge solutions for water protection.

The project has 3 overarching goals that are focused on improving the water quality specifically in coastal communities around Georgian Bay.

Physically divert microplastics/mircofibres from entering our water at the source.

Engage the community in hands-on clean up

Provide the public with information on what microplastics are, why they are so harmful to the water and animals, how they affect the water quality and lastly, to provide practical tips they can employ easily to prevent their own advancements to the issue.

Its purpose is to better understand the impacts and try to quantify the amount that could be diverted. We believe this pilot project is the first of its kind in Canada - it involves working with 100-200 resident volunteers in the Town of Parry Sound.

These volunteers would agree to install a filter on their washing machine, which would catch the fibres before they are washed down the drain. The volunteers would collect fibres for one year, after which, GBF would then collect and weigh the amount of plastic/fibres that was successfully diverted. The participants would then be asked to participate for another year. We will also work with the Town to capture and monitor, analyze and weigh the effluent from the waste water treatment facility to better understand the scope and breadth of the diverted substances.

Currently, water treatment plants capture an estimated 90% of these miniscule particles (most commonly shed through washing clothes such as fleece), leaving 10% to escape into our water. We have estimated based on research quantities outlined in Ms. Erdle’s report, that a possible 58, 880,000 pieces of microfibers could be entering the water from permanent Parry Sound residents (based on a population of 6400 doing one load of laundry every other day). And even more alarming is that in the summer months, the population explodes to over 60,000 seasonal residents.

Other activities include providing educational worksheets and facts and to organize community cleanups of public and private spaces. We would seek to engage community residents and cottagers alike along the coastal communities of Georgian Bay. We would provide relevant information on the potential hazards of microplastics/fibres in our waters, and our food chain while at the same time, providing practical, easy to implement solutions that could help build a foundation of knowledgeable, engaged environmental stewards. We will also work towards mobilizing community volunteers, including youth, throughout the year, to participate in cleaning up public shorelines, waterways and beaches and work with cottage communities and residents to focus on ensuring their own properties are litter free. Emphasis will be placed on locating small microplastics within the soil/sand/ice as well as the removal of larger garbage and plastic pieces.

Current and anticipated projects like this one cannot happen without support from donors, partners and other funders. Every dollar raised helps us to move our critical projects forward and helps to leverage opportunities where matching funds are a necessary requirement. Your donations work hard and we truly appreciate each and every dollar given!

Here’s another opportunity to get involved!

If you live in Parry Sound and have a washing machine, we are looking for you! As noted above, we need 100-200 volunteers who are willing to help GBF measure the amount of micofibre plastics that are prevented from reaching Georgian Bay by using washing machine filters that we supply to you. For more information on the opportunity and the activities you would need to commit to, please email info@georgianbayforever.org with your contact information and subject line Parry Sound microfibre project. One of our committed staffers will get back to you ASAP!

A cigarette butt is a used filter.

Most filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a microfiber plastic that is slow to degrade and will never decompose. Invisible ultraviolet light (UV rays) from the sun will eventually break cigarette butts into smaller pieces, but the toxic material never decomposes.

Cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item on our beaches. In Southwestern Ontario, littered cigarette butts can get carried in the stormwater and end up in the Great Lakes. When buried on the beach, they can stay in the sand for decades and may eventually wash into the lake.

In 2017, a butt-free beach campaign was launched for Wasaga Provincial Park Beach Area 5. The campaign was a program of Environmental Defence and the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation. The local program expanded to Wasaga Provincial Beach Area 5 with support from the Environment Network, Georgian Bay Forever, and amazing volunteers Brian Nabuurs and Susan Watson.

In 2018, the project will continue in Wasaga Beach Area 5 largely due to the volunteer efforts of Susan Watson and Brian Nabuurs in collecting all the used cigarette butts with Park approval, and with Georgian Bay Forever continuing to spread the word to our audience.

Properly disposing your cigarette butts is easy.

At Wasaga Beach 5 (and other participating beaches ), find these tools that make it easier to dispose of your butts:

1. Look for these ashtrays pictured below at participating beaches.

2. Empty the ashtray into this receptacle. These cigarette butts will be recycled by TerraCycle.

* If you can't find these tools, the important thing to remember is not to leave your BUTTS on the beach. Or anywhere on the ground. Create your own receptacle out of items such as a coffee tin or pop can and then dispose properly afterwards. The beach is not an ashtray!

BUTT is there more I can do?

Thanks for caring! Your beaches from Wasaga Beach to the world, need to be cigarette BUTT-FREE. Here are some ways you can help beaches:

• Learn more about why cigarette butts don’t belong on your beach!

Links to 5 reasons why

1. Cigarette butts don’t biodegrade
2. Cigarette butts pollute water
3. Cigarette butts are toxic waste
4. Cigarette butts harm wildlife
5. Cigarette butts hurt the local economy

• Tell your friends!

Besides ruining a beautiful view, big pieces of plastic litter - "macroplastics" can shred and fragment through processes like sun and wave exposure into microplastics and probably find their way to water.

As waterkeepers and guardians, Georgian Bayers know that plastic litter does not belong on our shorelines or in our lakes. It is critical to properly dispose of our plastic waste and be mindful of plastic pieces of equipment near water that can easily blow into the waves. Take some time to walk your favourite shorelines and remove plastic litter, and dispose of it in the most appropriate manner available in your municipality. You'll be helping reduce the amount of microplastics that get broken down into the aquatic environment.

In the long-term - reducing our use of plastic, especially one-use plastic is critical (straws, plastic bags). Recycled plastic is certainly more friendly than creating new plastic. However, at the moment, there are so many logistical and market problems because China is no longer taking much of the world's recyclable plastic waste...and as a society we are pretty poor at putting in the correct plastic wastes in our recycling bins that can actually be turned into marketable recycled plastic material. Many incorrect things end up in recycling bins causing much expense or contamination.

We can find ways to temper our growing plastic reliance, and improve our waste management of plastics so they don't end up polluting our water and damaging the aquatic ecosystems! Remember - we've tackled big issues before. Collaboratively, we all worked to reduce The Ozone Hole with scientists, governments, industry and the public as one example.

Here is how you can help:

a) Until better solutions and more research is completed on microfibre and microplastics impacts - general tips include avoiding over consumption of clothing and particularly synthetic clothing, decrease your laundering, and minimize one-use plastic like bags.
b) Research what can be recycled in your municipality to avoid contaminating or creating extra costs for recycling. Adjust your blue bin habits accordingly.
c) Donate to GBF's efforts to protect the water of Georgian Bay including our 2019 proposed project called "Divert & Capture: The fight to keep microplastics out of our water".
d) Properly dispose of cigarette butts. They do not belong on our shorelines or beaches because they contain microfibres and have toxic chemicals that can harm wildlife.
e) Undertake clean-ups of your favourite shorelines in Georgian Bay and dispose of the litter in the appropriate manner. You're helping water quality for the plants and animals in the Bay and restoring shoreline beauty.