90% of Great Lakes water samples have unsafe microplastic levels – report
90% of Great Lakes water samples have unsafe microplastic levels – report
But experts say damage can be reversed if US and Canada act quickly to stop new plastics from entering lake system
Oh boy! I wonder which form of environmental collapse will cause my death!
Eh, if it's not environmental disaster due to climate change, I have a hunch it might be microplastics or forever chemicals. That's what I expect will do me in before old age does.
And to think that I was seriously considering moving up north to the Great Lakes to get away from Climate Change and to move to a place that actually has fresh water. Joke's on me, that fresh water has microplastics to kill me. Total Catch-22.
The two biggest sources of microplastics are car tires and clothing. If you care about reducing microplastics, you should try to not buy plastic clothing (polyester, nylon, etc.) and instead buy biodegrable fibers like cotton or wool. I don't know what to do about the tire thing except drive maybe drive less?
If clothes are a very significant contributor, I'd like to see mandatory lint filters in new washing machines.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
About 90% of water samples taken over the last 10 years from the Great Lakes contain microplastic levels that are unsafe for wildlife, a new peer-reviewed paper from the University of Toronto finds.
The Great Lakes provide drinking water to over 40 million people in the US and Canada, hold about 90% of the US’s freshwater, and are home to 3,500 species of plants and animals.
The authors reviewed data from peer-reviewed studies from the last 10 years, which showed the highest levels are found in tributaries leading to the lakes, or around major cities like Chicago and Toronto.
Though myriad microplastic sources exist, wastewater treatment plants seem to be a major Great Lakes basin contributor, as they are elsewhere, Hataley said.
She noted concerning levels of microplastics have been found in sport fish consumed by humans and beer brewed with Great Lakes water.
Though Canadian and US governments have known about microplastic levels for at least 10 years, it can take time for regulators to act, and the new paper highlights the situation’s urgency, Hataley said.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
No big deal, just some plastic in the fish and beer.
Everytime I see microplastics mentionned it reminds me of that post that said that every generation had very toxic products that people just used and didn't know they were terrible, like asbestos and leaded fuel. Well for our generation it will be plastics that need to be eradicated! Then well find out another thing that is extremely toxic
There are also PFAS/forever chemicals
The article doesn't specify what the impacts of these micro plastics are. What makes them unsafe?
So far, we know microplastics enter your bloodstream and can mimic hormone responses and contribute to infertility. We also know that microplastics can permeate the blood brain barrier.
Generally, we know it's bad, but not how bad. I'm assuming it's our generation's version of lead.
If it turns out that infertility is the only problem, it might not be bad. We already go to great lengths socially to scare anyone young enough to have children into thinking it is the most horrible life choice they can possibly make. Once they are of geriatric children rearing age, then we finally tell them it's okay if they choose to have one, but by then it is often too late.
