How tiny plastic poses bigger threat to animal kingdom

Bhubaneswar: As we know, plastic pollution has become a bigger threat to the plants and animals, including humans, who are based on land.

Much of the plastic ends up in landfills. It may take up to 1,000 years for plastics to decompose, and that’s how toxic substances get released into soil and water.

Researchers in Germany warn that the impact of microplastics in soils, sediments and freshwater could have a long-term negative effect on ecosystems. Terrestrial microplastic pollution is much higher than marine microplastic pollution.

The researchers conclude that fragments of plastic are present practically all over the world and can trigger many kinds of adverse effects.

The study shows one third of all plastic waste ends up in soils or freshwater. Most of this plastic disintegrates into particles smaller than five millimetres, known as microplastics, and these break down further into nanoparticles (less than 0.1 micrometre in size).

Sewage
In between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the plastic particles contained in sewage persist in the sludge, shows the study. Sewage sludge is often applied to fields as fertilizer, meaning that several thousand tons of microplastics end up in our soils each year. Microplastics can even be found in tap water.

Microplastics can also interact with soil fauna, affecting their health and soil functions. “Earthworms, for example, make their burrows differently when microplastics are present in the soil, affecting the earthworm’s fitness and the soil condition,” reads an article in Science Daily about the research.

Toxic effects

In 2020, The Proceedings of the Royal Society paper states that terrestrial microplastic pollution has led to the decrease of species that live below the surface, such as mites, larvae and other tiny creatures which maintain the fertility of the land.

Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which can then seep into groundwater or other surrounding water sources. This can cause a range of potentially harmful effects on the species that drink the water.

When plastic particles break down, they gain new physical and chemical properties, increasing the risk that they will have a toxic effect on organisms.

Chemical effects are especially problematic at the decomposition stage. Additives such as phthalates and Bisphenol A leach out of plastic particles. These additives are known for their hormonal effects and can disrupt the hormone system of vertebrates and invertebrates.

The nano-sized particles may cause inflammation, traverse cellular barriers, and even cross highly selective membranes such as the blood-brain barrier or the placenta.

How do microplastics get into our water?

One of the main sources is our clothing. Minuscule fibres of acrylic, nylon, spandex, and polyester are shed each time we wash our clothes and carried off to wastewater treatment plants or discharged to the open environment.

According to a study cited by Water World in 2016, more than 700,000 microscopic plastic fibres could be released into the environment during each cycle of a washing machine.

Another study commissioned in the same year by clothing company Patagonia and conducted by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that washing a single synthetic jacket just once released an average of 1.7 grams of microfibres.

In 2019, it was estimated that 1.5 million trillion microfibers were present in the oceans around the world.

Microbeads

Microbeads are solid plastic particles that typically range from 10 micrometers (0.00039 inches) up to 1 millimeter (0.039 inches).

Numerous countries around the world have introduced legislation to ban the manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads.

In 2021, FAO and UNEP teamed up again to launch the Global Assessment of Soil Pollution, which details the risks and impacts of soil pollution on human health, the environment and food security.

[Note: This story is a part of ‘Punascha Pruthibi – One Earth. Unite for It’, an awareness campaign by Sambad Digital.]

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