Small Particles – Large Threats

By Lindsey Neuwirth, Safina Center Intern

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

 The warm water drips down your face. As you open the bottle, you get a whiff of a fresh tropical scent. After squeezing about a dime sized drop on your fingers, you rub the liquid gently across your skin. The tiny particles embedded in the substance relax you, as they exfoliate the dead skin away and down the drain. However, more than just the dirt from your face disappears down that drain. The tiny little beads that soothe your skin, have a long journey ahead of them. Too small to get caught up in the wastewater treatment plants, they will eventually make their way to the ocean, spreading far and wide across the world. These particles have been found in deep oceans, Antarctic ice, shellfish, table salt, drinking water, and even the rain falling over mountains and cities. But why are these particles so concerning?

 These particles, known as microplastics, derive from plastic that breaks down into smaller particles, less than five millimeters in size, similar to the size of a grain of rice or even smaller. Marine animals are exposed to microplastics directly from the consumption of water, or indirectly from consuming other organisms. The introduction of microplastics in the marine food chain provides a direct path for these small particles to affect humans through the consumption of ocean derived products. This poses a major health threat to humans and marine organisms alike.

Subsequently, new research has uncovered another health threat posed by microplastics. A study from April 2022 revealed the relationship between microplastics and pathogen pollution in the marine environment. The study focused on three parasites that are recognized by the World Health Organization to be the cause of sickness from human shellfish consumption.

The researchers found that microplastic particles can carry the parasites Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium parvum, and Giardia enterica, from terrestrial ecosystems to the marine environment.

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite found in cat feces that when ingested can lead to a disease called toxoplasmosis. Many marine animals and people are affected by this parasite, and it has been shown to lead to the death of many critically endangered species. Toxoplasmosis can cause body aches, fever, and fatigue in healthy individuals, and even more complicated symptoms like seizures, headaches, and lung problems in immunocompromised people. If a pregnant woman becomes infected with this disease, they risk miscarriage or having a baby with serious problems such as seizures, an enlarged liver or spleen, jaundice, and severe eye infection.

 The other two parasites studied, Cryto and giardia, can cause gastrointestinal distress and may be life threatening to children and immunocompromised individuals.

 Microplastics pose a major threat to wildlife and human health. We must address this problem. The only way to move forward is by reducing plastic use, and eventually eliminating its use altogether. Even with the halt of plastic use, the current amount that exists is enough to still pose a severe threat to ecosystems.

Photo via flickr

 To reduce microplastics, the best mitigation is stopping the contamination at the source. This means steering away from the use of products that may already contain microplastics and also stopping the production of plastics in general. For example, several cosmetic products, such as cleansers and exfoliants, contain microplastics that get rinsed down the drain and eventually into our waterways. Microfibers can also shed from clothing in the wash and enter waterways by those means. Other microplastics may also simply be remanence of larger plastic materials that have degraded from the sun’s radiation or rough ocean waves. By avoiding plastic, less microplastics will enter our ocean ecosystems and pose less of a threat to animal and human health.

 The results of this study are monumental in the fight against combatting the plastic crisis. Policy makers must account for such crucial scientific findings in creating new laws and regulations for the production and use of the harmful products that are severe health risks. Companies that contribute to the microplastic problem in our environment must be held accountable for the negative effect of the pollution that they are responsible for creating. In the meantime, it is up to the public to make sustainable decisions, such as refraining from using plastic products and products containing microplastics, to protect themselves and the marine ecosystem.