https://www.arctictoday.com/microplastics-in-arctic-sea-ice-should-concern-everybody/
[images in online article]
Microplastics in Arctic sea ice should concern everybody
Even as Arctic sea ice melts, scientists are finding more microplastics
in it than ever before — more than half of which is small enough to
easily be ingested by microorganisms.
By lka Peeken - January 24, 2019
Plastic products have become an essential part of our lives, but it is
time to reconsider their often uncritical use.
Unlike wood, plastic products do not rot quickly and depending on the
material can take up to several hundred years, to decompose completely.
An ordinary six-pack ring can take about 400 years to decompose.
Accordingly, it is not surprising that we at the Alfred Wegener
Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in
Bremerhaven, Germany, have found more than 12,000 microplastic particles
per liter of sea ice in Arctic sea ice — more than ever been found before.
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, fibers, pellets and other
plastic fragments that we can hardly see with the naked eye. A
considerable amount of microplastic is released directly into the ocean
by the gradual deterioration of larger pieces of plastic. But
microplastics can also be created on land — for example, by laundering
synthetic textiles, particles of which find their way into the ocean
through sewer networks.
The particles are only a few micrometers — the thousandth part of a
millimeter — up to a maximum of 5 millimeters in size. The microplastics
we have found came mainly from packaging materials such as polyethylene
and make it clear that these consumer products are transported over a
long distances by the ocean currents. We have also found relatively high
proportions of cellulose acetate, indicative for cigarette filters. This
shows once again how quickly flicked away cigarette butts can leave a
footprint even in the Arctic.
Since large fractions of the sea ice are melting — for example at the
outflow gateways of the Fram Strait — sea ice can only be considered as
a temporary sink for microplastic particles. Given the ongoing decline
in sea ice, the release of microplastic might accelerate in the future.
If these potentially released marine plastic particles are sedentary or
remain and accumulate in Arctic waters or are transported to lower
latitudes still needs to be studied.
More than half of the microplastic particles trapped in the ice were
smaller than a twentieth of a millimeter and can therefore be easily
absorbed by Arctic microorganisms. This is very worrying since we do not
know whether these tiny plastic particles harm marine life or even
endanger humans through the food chain. In the worst case, we would get
our carelessly discarded plastic back on the table in the form of seafood.
Thus it is time to reconsider our consumer behavior. We should
scrutinize the use and handling of many disposable products such as
shopping bags, coffee to go, packaged fruit and vegetables and cigarette
butts. In addition, to enhance the information of consumers, campaigns
such as “Citizen clean up” and particular teaching young children are
very good initiatives to make the problem visible. In addition to us
consumers, politicians should actively implement guidelines to protect
the oceans from packaging waste. In the interests of environmentally
conscious customers, the packaging industry will hopefully quickly
convert its product range to more easily degradable materials and thus
all together will give us hope for a less polluted ocean in the future.
Ilka Peeken is an expert in marine biology currently working at the
Department of Polar Biological Oceanography, Alfred Wegener Institute
Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany.
She studies the effects of environmental changes on Arctic marine
ecosystem, particularly on organisms living in sea ice, and presented
her findings Wednesday at Arctic Frontiers 2019 in Tromsø, Norway.
[For more on plastic pollution, see:
https://www.restco.ca/Plastic_Pollution.shtml]