Put down that beauty scrub!

Microplastics are pretty self explanatory; they're pieces of plastic at a very small scale, 1-5mm in width. They are found in a variety of places, one of them being cosmetic products! Ever used a face scrub? Or even whitening toothpaste? If so, you've helped contribute these microplastics to enter the marine environment ... this is a problem!

Why?

Well, microplastics are divided into two sub categories; 'primary microplastics' - manufactured and used in products/by humans, and 'secondary microplastics' - broken down microscopic pieces from larger plastic debris. Both kinds cause a big threat to the environment.

Plastic has been considered to be a brilliant, synthetic material, due to its versatility. It's cheap, durable, strong, easy to mould, lightweight, and a great substitute for expensive materials e.g. cosmetic products use microplastics as exfoliators, instead of using natural ones like pumice and ground almonds. However, these features that make plastic a desirable material for manufacturers to use, proves problematic. Because they are durable and resistant to corrosion, it means that they stay in the environment for a very, very long time. They're also a lot less dense than water, which makes them easily transported around the globe via currents. Industrial coastal areas, gyres (large scale system of circulating ocean currents), and shorelines are the most commonly found areas containing washed up microplastics; currently, the maximum amount of microplastics found in an area was 100,000 particles m³, in Sweden. Annual production of plastic has increased a gigantic amount, from 1.5 million tonnes back in 1950, to a current annual record of 290 million tonnes! Needless to say, that is a lot of plastic.

They pose a threat to the environment because marine animals are ingesting these plastics. Marine life consists of organisms, large and small. Filter-feeders are of major concern, because they capture and ingest anything of a particular size, which these microplastics fall into. Larger species like whales are also targets by the way they ingest; they can take up to 70,000 litres of water in one gulp, which can contain thousands of microplastics! (Wright & Thompson 2013)

Below is an image that sums up the pattern of these microplastics quite well:

It's a good example to explain how these microplastics are able to enter the food chain within the marine ecosystem. Filter feeders and suspension feeders ingest these plastics, but then release them in fecal matter, which then gets ingested by deposit feeders, after the plastic has drifted further down into the water. This is such a problem, because it means that these microplastics are spread far more easily around the oceans and waters, and at greater depths.

It's not just these small feeders, a study by Murray and Cowie found that crustaceans and fish have been reported to contain plastic in their gut: '83% of animals collected from the Clyde Sea contained plastic, nylon-strand balls. Laboratory-based feeding experiments using ‘seeded’ fish revealed 100 per cent of individuals ingested and retained 5 mm nylon rope fragments'. Seabirds have also been found to contain plastics in their guts, with a staggering 90% of the world population estimated to be affected.

A carcass of an albatross containing a whole lot of plastic in its gut. Source: Chris Jordan photography

These plastics can do quite a lot of damage to these poor creatures. They can cause blockages in their digestive system, which results in starvation and death. They can also confuse the animal by thinking it's full, which again leads to starvation and death! Death by internal damage from sharp edges, toxins being absorbed... the list is endless. They can also latch on to the outside of species, like algae. This binding has proven to be problematic because it stops the process of photosynthesis to happen, due to oxygen and light being blocked and not absorbed.The binding nature of these microplastics is also a concern, because it means that synthetic/natural organic pollutants can stick to them, and then be transferred many miles away, with the potential to affect human life, not just marine (Zarfl and Matthies, 2010). Here is a list of chemical organic pollutants that have been found in the oceans and what they can do:

• Aldicarb – High toxicity to the nervous system
• Benzene – Chromosomal damage, anaemia, blood disorders, leukemia
• Carbon tetrachloride – Cancer to the liver, kidney, lung, and Central nervous system damage
• Chloroform – Liver and kidney damage
• Dioxin – Skin disorders, cancer, genetic mutations
• Ethylene dibromide – Cancer and male infertility
• Polychlorinated biphenyl – Liver, kidney and lung damage
• Trichloroethylen – In high concentrations, liver and kidney damage, also skin problems, and suspected cancer mutations
• Vinyl chloride – Liver, kidney and lung damage

These are currently considered to be at low levels, and are unlikely to have a great impact on a global scale. However, species considered to be higher up in the food chain are known to carry these chemicals among their flesh. If this spreads, it's very likely that these chemicals can reach humans.

What can we do?

The 'Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation' are currently trying to get a national ban for the use of microplastics in cosmetics and household items. Industries need to find a way to use less plastic, under the guidelines of Source Control (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink). Rather than taking these shortcuts by replacing safe, organic products with plastic, find a way to incorporate them that's economically effective. Oh, and RECYCLE! Do we need to keep on producing such vast levels of plastic annually if the option and technology is there for us to reuse what we already have?!