What are the risks of microbeads and microplastics?

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What are the risks of microbeads and microplastics? Risk Bites takes a look at where these millimeter-sized plastic beads are used, and why experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential environmental and health impacts of these and other microplastics.


BACKGROUND RESOURCES

Grist article:

Eight trillion microbeads pollute aquatic habitats every day - and scientists are calling for a ban. Washington Post Sept 18 2015

Why Those Tiny Microbeads In Soap May Pose Problem For Great Lakes (NPR)

Plastics in Cosmetics: Are we polluting the environment with our personal care products? (United Nations Environment Programme)

What do your mouth and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have in common? (Grist)

Why dentists are speaking out about the plastic beads in your toothpaste (Washington Post)


CONCENTRATION CALCULATIONS

The concentration estimate of microbead-related polyethylene in Lake Ontario was based on the following:

A concentration of 1,000,000 beads per square km in Lake Ontario were measured (Sherri Mason, personal communication), sampling to a depth of 16 cm. This is equivalent to 6.25 beads per cubic meter of surface water, or one bead per 44 gallons of water. Assuming a bead volume of 1 cubic millimeter and the beads are made of polyethylene, this is the equivalent of 6.25 parts per billion (PPB) polyethylene.


ABSORBED TOXINS

Microbeads and microplastics more generally can absorb toxic organic chemicals from the environment, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and dioxins. For comparison, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Maximum Contaminant Levels in drinking water for PAHs is 0.2 PPB, and for dioxins it's 0.00003 PPB.


MICROPLASTICS

Microbeads are a part of a much larger environmental issue – microplastics. These millimeter-sized shreds of plastic result from the gradual degradation of plastic goods that find their way into the environment. They persist of a long time in water systems and other areas, absorb toxic chemicals and are taken up and concentrated by organisms. Where these fine particles of plastic are shaped like long fibers or flat plates, their high surface area and shape potentially leads to even greater environmental impacts than microbeads.


RESEARCH

Scientific Evidence Supports a Ban on Microbeads (2015) Chelsea Rochman et al. Environmental Science & Technology 49 (18), pp 10759–10761

Contributing to marine pollution by washing your face: Microplastics in facial cleansers (2009). Lisa S. Fendall and Mary A. Sewell. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58, pp 1225 – 1228

Microplastics in freshwater systems: A review of the emerging threats, identification of knowledge gaps and prioritisation of research needs (2015) Dafne Eerkes-Medrano, Richard C. Thompson and David C. Aldridge. Water Research 75 pp 63 – 82.

Microplastics in the marine environment: Current trends and future perspectives. (2015). Luís Gabriel Antão Barboza, and Barbara Carolina Garcia Gimenez. Marine Pollution Bulletin 97 pp 5 – 12.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to Sherri Mason (State University of New York at Fredonia) and Ana Sofia Knauf (Freelance journalist/Grist) for their expertise and insights in developing this video. This vide was proposed by Ana Sofia Knauf to accompany a Grist article on microbeads.

Backing track: Mandolin Highway by Olive Musique.

Risk Bites videos are devised, created and produced by Andrew Maynard, in association with the Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society (). They are produced under a Creative Commons License CC-BY-SA

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