Plastic waste is a huge problem, microplastic is an even bigger threat
Scientists worldwide are alarmed by the amount of microplastics being found in watersheds, lakes, drinking water and oceans.
Parents of children often remind their kids “don’t forget to brush.” Working men use abrasive hand soaps after a day in the shop. Women cleanse their faces with soft scrubs. What’s being liberally applied in the name of good hygiene are microbeads — a big part of the invisible microplastics waste stream — and these little plastic scrubbers are polluting our drinking water supplies.
Scientists worldwide are alarmed by the amount of microplastics being found in watersheds, lakes, drinking water and oceans. Here’s a list of 10 stealth microplastics compiled by the science journal, “The Conversation.” The brief list suggests just how widespread this class of pollutants have become during the past 50 years.
Today, the California State Water Board is leading an ambitious international effort to standardize methods for monitoring microplastics in drinking water, surface water, sediment and fish tissue. It’s a critical first step to further the understanding of microplastics in our domestic water supplies and the environment. On May 16, 2020, the Board adopted an official definition of “microplastics” in drinking water.
Plastic: It’s what’s for dinner? Youtube videofrom TomoNewsUS shows the impact of microplastics on fish
The new California definition sets the foundation for a long-term approach to studying this ubiquitous contaminant, which recently has come into mainstream awareness as a major environmental challenge. Researchers believe further monitoring and study of microplastics in drinking water supplies and its implications for public health and safety are imperative.
“The science, research and understanding of microplastics is fast moving,” said E. Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Board. “This first, but critical step, in establishing a definition of microplastics in drinking water will provide the basis for further investigation and work at the Water Boards.”
Plastic pollution is a challenge throughout our watersheds, from large plastics such as bottles, bags, and other refuse, to microscopic pieces that this new definition attempts to describe. The Water Board said it’s looking ways to comprehensively address the problem, and guiding the public discussion on how to fix the problem.
Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in length — a size that has long concerned scientists due to its potential ingestion by animals. Many of these particles are much smaller and can only be seen through a microscope. While other state, national and international agencies have defined microplastics, California’s definition is the first to focus specifically on microplastics in drinking water.
Australian ecotoxicologist Mark Browne had a suspicion microplastics were a problem more than a decade ago. He hoped the samples he’d taken from dried blood of a blue mussel and placed under a special microscope would tell him if he was correct. As a fuzzy, three-dimensional image of the mussel’s blood cells appeared, there they were, right in the middle — tiny specks of plastic. A Scientific American story about Brown’s research is online at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-humans-a-microplastic-invasion-may-be-taking-a-toll/
Although photos of seagulls eating plastic wrappers have sparked interest in cleaning up our beaches, Browne’s research showed the size of the problem is far beyond the trash we can see. In her Scientific American article, author Andrea Thompson said “tiny pieces of degraded plastic, synthetic fibers and plastic beads, collectively called microplastics, have turned up in every corner of the planet — from Florida beach sands to Arctic sea ice, from farm fields to urban air.”
May’s State Water Board action is in response to Senate Bill 1422, legislation passed in 2018 that required Board adoption of a definition of microplastics in drinking water by July 1 of this year. Specifically, the bill mandates establishment by July 1, 2021, of a standard methodology that requires four years of testing and reporting the results, including public disclosure of the findings.
As a result of the legislation related to microplastics in drinking water, as well as Senate Bill 1263 that requires adoption of a Statewide Microplastics Strategy to protect coastal waters, the State Water Board is collaborating with the Ocean Protection Council and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Program to lead an ambitious, international effort to standardize methods for monitoring microplastics in drinking water, surface water, sediment and fish tissue.
Experts will convene in the near future to better understand the human health and ecological effects. For more information, see the State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water Program’s resources page.
Kate Campbell is a California environmental writer who has specialized in state and federal water policy. She is currently the editor of Forestland Steward magazine, which addresses forestry issues of interest to California’s private forestland owners.
