Microplastic, big threat to aquatic animals – Research

By Bisola Adeyemo

At least 1.15 million and 2.41 million tons of plastic waste enters the ocean every year, according to research.

Plastics have been slowly accumulating in the marine environment since the 1960s, to the point that we now have huge masses of plastic floating in the oceans and other waste plastics washing up on the once beautifully clean beaches around the world.

Much of it is, single-use plastics so food packaging and bottles, carrier bags, and other such products.

The waste accumulates aquatic river species like insects and snails and they are increasingly choosing to settle on plastic rather than natural features like rocks or fallen branches.

The findings, based on research in British rivers, are the latest evidence of how plastic waste is reshaping the world’s riverine ecosystems, both physically and behaviourally.

Plastics in water are impossible to clean up or remove, they are primary threat to marine organisms.

Aquatics animals like fishes, marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtle species, seabird species, marine mammal , and all are being injured and killed by plastic wastes through eating plastic bags and dying from blockages within their digestive systems. Marine animals are perishing in our trash. But we can turn the tide on the use of plastic.

Plastic waste in the river not only shorten aquatics lives, however leads to their migration from one location to another.

“Plastics, after a very long time, begin to biodegrade and release chemicals with which that plastic was made from. When these chemicals are released, they affect the ecology aquatic environment.

“These chemicals can be as poisonous as reducing dissolved oxygen. This is depleting the quantity of oxygen in the water.

However, its not just large pieces of plastic that are causing havoc with the marine environment, Household and cosmetic products are laced with microplastics designed to scrub and clean, and which are too small to be caught by water filtration systems.

1. Avoid single-use plastics

Ninety percent of the plastic we use in our daily lives is disposable or single-use plastic: grocery bags, plastic wrap, zipper bags, coffee-cup lids. Single-use plastics are particularly damaging considering that a single plastic bag can take 1 000 years to degrade.

2. Recognize microplastics in disguise

Many cosmetics and beauty products contain “exfoliants” that are little plastic beads. These microplastics might seem harmless, but it is precise because of their size that they can slip through water-treatment plants and end up in the ocean where fish often mistake them for food.

3. Carry a reusable water bottle

Disposable water and soda bottles are some of the biggest culprits of plastic waste. More than 480 billion plastic drinking bottles were sold globally in 2016. If placed end to end, they would extend more than halfway to the sun! Drink from reusable bottles instead.

4. Say no to plastic cutlery, straws, take out containers

Sometimes we are given plastic without even asking for it. Turn down the offer for a straw. Ask restaurants to pack your food in fewer containers for take-out. Tell them that you don’t need any plastic cutlery, and use your own reusable cutlery instead.

5. Recycle

This might seem obvious, but the majority of the plastic we use is not recycled. Where the option exists, ensure that the plastic you do use gets recycled, but remember, it is easier to prevent waste than to manage it.