{"id":161715,"date":"2020-06-12T07:08:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T11:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=161715"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:15:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:15:19","slug":"tiny-shards-tons-sea-plastic-pollution-presents-challenge-labs-beaches-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/06\/tiny-shards-tons-sea-plastic-pollution-presents-challenge-labs-beaches-society\/","title":{"rendered":"From Tiny Shards to Tons in the Sea, Plastic Pollution Presents a Challenge to Labs, Beaches and Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: this story was originally published in the Spring-Summer 2020 issue of Wrack Lines<\/a>, the magazine of the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program, located at UConn Avery Point.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Love-hate relationships are tricky. They\u2019re vexing. They\u2019re complicated.<\/p>\n

So it is between humans and plastic. Made primarily from petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels, the various forms of plastic are everywhere in our daily lives. They\u2019re in our cars, our schools, our computers, our clothing and the air we breathe as fragments of synthetic fibers go aloft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to get rid of all plastic,\u201d said J. Evan Ward, professor and head of the UConn Marine Sciences Department. \u201cPlastics have made our lives better. What we need to do is identify the ones that are most problematic, the ones that have the possibility of being transported up the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples of beneficial plastics leap to mind readily. Think of artificial joints that restore mobility, plumbing pipes that don\u2019t corrode, lighter vehicles that reduce fuel consumption and eyeglasses that resist breakage. All have clear advantages over the metal, ceramic and glass counterparts they replaced.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
UConn Marine Sciences Professor Evan Ward, left collects oysters with doctoral student Kayla Mladinich for an earlier phase of the microplastics research in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Wozniak)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But plastic has a dark side, too, particularly in the marine environment where Ward focuses his research. With an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic getting dumped into the sea annually, harmful impacts of plastics and its persistence in the environment are becoming ever more apparent. Photos of seals being strangled by monofilament fishing line, a turtle with a straw stuck in its nostril and dead seabirds with stomachs blocked by trash serve as poster children prompting public disgust and action to reduce the use of throwaway plastics. The Ocean Conservancy calculates there are already 150 million metric tons of plastic in the marine environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming for the masses, when you start to look at the big picture and try to make sense of it,\u201d said UConn Marine Sciences Professor Sandra Shumway, now in her third year of collaborating with Ward on research involving plastics. Specifically, their work focuses on microplastics, those microscopic bits frayed from larger pieces, and their effects on shellfish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nowhere that has escaped the presence of microplastics,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re even found in caves in the deep ocean, in the Arctic and Antarctic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concern about plastics isn\u2019t limited to academia, though. As the call from environmental groups to curb single-use plastics became mainstream, a movement to ban plastic shopping bags gained momentum. Last year, Connecticut joined seven other states in enacting it, although the ban was lifted during the pandemic.\u00a0 Individual Connecticut communities have also banned items such as plastic straws, stirrers and take-out containers.<\/p>\n

Mystic Aquarium is among the groups supporting these changes. After years of sponsoring beach cleanups and rescuing seals, turtles and other marine animals from entanglement in plastic debris, the aquarium took its campaign to the next level. It set aside part of its exhibit space to further public awareness about the problem. Opened in April 2019, \u201cPlastic Free Seas,\u201d is likely to remain a permanent exhibit, tucked between tanks of blue angel fish, Caribbean blue tang and green moray eel.<\/p>\n

Specially lit tanks illuminate microplastic particles to enable visitors to see them for themselves, allowing them to trap a plastic bag and floating water bottle in a net while the gossamer fragments float free. But rather than focus exclusively on the problem, the exhibit suggests ways people can be part of the solution \u2013 switching to non-plastic alternatives, for example, as well as participating in beach cleanups. One panel tells the story of a local woman who\u2019s trained her service dog to pick up plastic when she and her son do beach cleanups. Instead of conveying an oversimplified message that all plastic is bad, it encourages people to differentiate between reusable plastic equipment and throwaway single-use items they could skip altogether.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
UConn Marine Sciences Professor Sandra Shumway, center, checks on mussels growing off the docks at UConn Avery Point with graduate student Hannah Collins. The shellfish will be used as part of a microplastics research project. (Judy Benson\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger problem than we can solve by just doing beach cleanups,\u201d said Dale Wolbrink, spokeswoman for the aquarium. \u201cIt\u2019s about stopping it at the source.\u201d<\/p>\n

To spread the word further, the aquarium has taken the message on the road. Dozens of schools, farmers markets, yacht clubs, beach communities and other venues have hosted aquarium educators for lessons about the scope of the plastic problem and ways to curb it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the idea of refuse, reuse and reduce before recycling,\u201d said Mary Ellen Mateleska, director of education and conservation at the aquarium. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get the message out that solving the global problem of plastic pollution can begin with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the summers of 2018 and 2019, the aquarium joined the Long Island Sound Study and Connecticut Sea Grant in leading a \u201cBreak the Single-Use Plastic Habit\u201d campaign, launched both years with trash pickups at public beaches.<\/p>\n

Judy Preston, Long Island Sound outreach coordinator for Sea Grant, said the campaign has effectively used social media \u2013 including the hashtag \u201c#DontTrashLISound\u201d \u2013 to draw attention to the plastic problem specific to the estuary. Oystercatchers, seals, black fish and other Long Island Sound wildlife are depicted on attractive decals for reusable water bottles and travel mugs given out as part of the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing attention to the plight of seals, sea birds and even the less familiar terrapin that is threatened from habitat loss and degradation due, in part, to plastic debris, is a way to help people understand that plastic can have a life of its own long after it\u2019s \u2018disposed of,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cCoupled with the International Coastal Cleanup Day in September, the #DontTrashLISound campaign has resulted in the removal of thousands of cigarette butts (the most collected item), food wrappers, plastic caps and bottles, and the often cited plastic straw.\u201d<\/p>\n

The groups involved in the campaign hope to continue the momentum around the problem of plastic debris, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLegislation to ban or curtail its use is hopeful,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we can collectively make a difference in this arena, perhaps we can gain momentum for other important sustainability issues to help Long Island Sound, such as reducing our fertilizer use and driving less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward and Shumway both applaud cleanups of the plastic littering beaches and waterways and efforts to encourage people to use less plastic. In their view, helping to rid the environment of the discarded bags, empty take-out cups and similar large pieces of plastic trash are where the main work of engaging the public about plastic pollution belongs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is definitely good reason to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment,\u201d Ward said. \u201cWe should get rid of all nonessential plastics. There are definitely some serious problems with animal health and plastics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acting to reduce plastic use overall, Ward said, is equivalent to first turning off the faucet when the tub overflows, before grabbing a bucket to start bailing. He and Shumway lament that some recently published popular and academic reports have fed generalized anxiety about all plastics that can leave people feeling powerless and directionless about how to effectively respond. Instead, the two researchers are hoping their work will reveal which particular parts of the plastic problem should \u2014 and shouldn\u2019t \u2014 be the focus of concern. Too much emphasis on the wrong area, they fear, will dilute energy from where it\u2019s really needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point in upsetting the general public for no good reason,\u201d said Shumway.<\/p>\n

\"Volunteers
Volunteers collect trash at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven as part of the \u201cBreak the Single-Use Plastic Habit\u201d campaign by Connecticut Sea Grant and other groups last summer. (Judy Benson\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She was referring to concerns being raised that oysters, clams and mussels \u2014 shellfish that are commercially important, healthy sources of protein \u2014 were ingesting microplastic particles, which would in turn get eaten by humans. With seven decades of work on shellfish between them, she and Ward have a deep understanding of shellfish physiology and good reason to suspect the threat was being overblown.<\/p>\n

Working with doctoral student Kayla Mladinich and more recently with graduate student Hannah Collins, the two researchers began the project three years ago by tracing the path of microplastics through the guts of mussels.<\/p>\n

This is meticulous work involving some very time-consuming processes to study effects of long-term plastic exposure, and others requiring great precision to gauge short-term impacts. In the earlier field sample collection phase of the project, where sediment, water, oyster tissue and other marine materials are gathered and analyzed, the researchers had to be hypervigilant to prevent samples from getting contaminated with airborne microplastics. The study has also involved the use of a needle-sized endoscope to film the bivalves\u2019 internal digestive organs as they were fed plastic particles.<\/p>\n

Results thus far show the mussels reject nearly all of the microplastics, either spitting them out as they first enter their systems, ejecting them at their filtering organs, or excreting them in feces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows people that bivalves are not good indicators of microplastics in the environment,\u201d Shumway said.<\/p>\n

The current phase of the project, funded by Connecticut Sea Grant and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is looking at the types of plastic used in the nets, ropes, cages and other equipment of aquaculture farmers. Are shellfish eating particles fraying off the gear and incorporating them into their tissue? If so, which types in particular? A second line of inquiry asks whether the makeup of the bacterial community in shellfish digestive organs is changing in response to plastics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to figure out is how oysters and mussels exposed to environmentally relevant microplastics, like nylon and polyester microfibers, select particles for ingestion,\u201d Mladinich said. The different shapes, sizes and composition of various particles are all determinants of what happens in shellfish, she said.<\/p>\n

With so much attention being paid to plastics these days, she and Collins both feel privileged to be young researchers involved in a project with immediate relevance. But it can also be daunting, considering the global scale of plastics problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it does seem overwhelming, when you think of the size of the problem,\u201d Collins said. \u201cBut even though it feels overwhelming, I appreciate knowing that I\u2019m working on one piece of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Ward said, the purpose of the research is to take a mindboggling unknown \u2013 the full extent and impact of plastics in the marine environment \u2013 and break off one piece into an answerable question.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re developing a model to identify which microplastics are ingested by bivalves and which are rejected,\u201d he said. \u201cThe types are a consequence of the particle size and shape. We\u2019d like to be able to tell managers which types of microplastics are most problematic for bivalve gear\u201d so that shellfish farmers can avoid using it.<\/p>\n

Thus far, though, theirs is a \u201cgood news story\u201d for the shellfish industry, Ward and Shumway said. While other research may be raising \u201cdanger\u201d signs about shellfish safety, their results are showing that people aren\u2019t eating plastic when they slurp an oyster at their favorite raw bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been some bad science about this,\u201d Shumway said. \u201cPeople have been using this bandwagon to further their own cases to link microplastics to human health issues of eating shellfish, and it\u2019s just not right. Shellfish are a good, safe source of protein, they\u2019re good for the economy, good for the environment and they\u2019re good for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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