On a blustery March day, a squad of volunteers and researchers from the Bodega Marine Laboratory and Reserve take up grabbers and gloves against a sea of microplastics. Our mission: Clear trash from a local beach and document the prevalence of plastic on the relatively pristine Northern California coast.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, microplastics surround you. They drift in air, settle in dust, shed from clothes, slough from tires, cling to shoes, float in rivers and reservoirs. Many wash into the sea, where winds, waves and currents can propel them over thousands of miles.
An estimated eight to eleven tons of plastic enter the ocean every year. Microplastics, ranging in size from 1/1000th of a millimeter (.000039 inches—smaller than a sharpened pencil point) to five millimeters (.19 inch—about the size of a pencil eraser)–have infiltrated every cove, inlet, estuary, reef, marsh, bog, deep-sea trench and polar ice cap on the planet.
These shape-shifters come in various forms, from filaments to pellets to foams. Some primary microplastics, such as tiny beads manufactured for exfoliants and other cosmetics, have been banned. Far more common in and out of the water are secondary microplastics, created when Styrofoam and similar materials break down. Like magnets, they attract oils and other toxins that spill into the sea, increasing the danger to marine life.
Most vulnerable are the ocean’s smallest citizens: the plankton and larvae at the base of the food web, who often mistake microplastics for food. “That’s like swallowing a paper towel instead of lunch,” a marine toxicologist explains. “You feel full because your gut is blocked, and you’re not getting the nutrients you need to grow.”
As bigger fish and marine mammals devour smaller prey, microplastics accumulate in their bodies, where they can mimic natural hormones and interfere with reproduction. Seabirds ingest them as they graze in seagrasses or hunt for small fish and invertebrates. Humans are also at risk. The mini-menaces have made their way into our blood, hearts, lungs and, perhaps most ominously, brains.
“We need to understand how plastic pollution affects biochemical processes and what the long-term effects may be,” says Dr. Cristina Torres-Duarte, project scientist at the UC-Davis Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology and Conservation (ToPEC) lab, which monitors microplastics on the Bodega Reserve. Because these particles are tiny (many can swim through standard sieves) and ubiquitous, they are challenging to isolate and study. When collecting samples along the coast, for instance, researchers wear natural fibers in Barbie-bright pink, a rare color in microplastics that pops up under a microscope.
For a special project involving community members, Zeke Spooner, a doctoral student in the ToPEC lab, is recruiting volunteers to complete a brief survey of consumer perceptions of microplastics and to join researchers and citizen-scientists on a beach clean-up.
On the first outing, our group collected garbage on a half-mile of rocky shore in Bodega Bay. In less than an hour, we gathered 41 pounds of trash, 25 made of plastic – -the equivalent of almost 64,000 fewer microplastics invading our ecosystems. Most pervasive and evasive were Styrofoam fragments wedged into crevices and crumbling into smaller bits.
Even if you live far from the sea, you can help protect the ocean’s health. “The most significant thing anyone can do is avoid single-use plastics like grocery bags and soda bottles.” says Spooner. “Keeping plastics out of the ocean is more effective than recycling or removing them.”
If this sounds like too minor a step to make a difference, remember a lesson that microplastics have taught us: Small matters. And small changes by millions of people could add up to a very big impact.
