John Bacon Posted January 10, 2015 Report Posted January 10, 2015 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/scientists-raise-concerns-tiny-plastic-fibers-discovered-great-004945198.html Scientists raise concerns about tiny plastic fibers discovered in Great Lakes waters and fishBy John Flesher, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 4 hours ago Print RELATED CONTENT View PhotoIn this July 28, 2014 photo provided by Rachel Ricotta are microfibers, exceedingly … CANADA NEWS » TV anchor Leslie Roberts’ ethical breach 'unheard of' in PR industry Review launched, more penalties meted out in Dalhousie University scandal Points that go places.American Express Sponsored Cosby's final Ontario show disrupted by protesters, comedian calls for calm Victims of Quebec oil-by-rail disaster agree to $200 million settlement Bill Cosby heckled during second Canadian show: Canadian Press More Canada news » TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Scientists who have reported that the Great Lakes are awash in tiny bits of plastic are raising new alarms about a little-noticed form of the debris turning up in sampling nets: synthetic fibers from garments, cleaning cloths and other consumer products. They are known as "microfibers" — exceedingly fine filaments made of petroleum-based materials such as polyester and nylon that are woven together into fabrics. "When we launder our clothes, some of the little microfibers will break off and go down the drain to the wastewater treatment facility and end up in our bodies of water," Sherri "Sam" Mason, a chemist with the State University of New York at Fredonia, said Friday. The fibers are so minuscule that people typically don't realize their favourite pullover fleece can shed thousands of them with every washing, as the journal Environmental Science & Technology reported in 2011. Over the past couple of years, Mason and colleagues have documented the existence of microplastic litter — some too small to see with the naked eye — in the Great Lakes. Among the particles are abrasive beads used in personal care products such as facial and body washes and toothpastes. Other researchers have made similar finds in the oceans. A number of companies are replacing microbeads with natural substances such as ground-up fruit pits. Illinois imposed a statewide ban on microbeads last year. Similar measures were proposed in California and New York. But microfibers have gotten comparatively little attention. They've accounted for about 4 per cent of the plastic litter that Mason and her students have collected from the Great Lakes. The group drags finely meshed netting along the lake surfaces, harvesting tens of thousands of particles per square mile, and study them with microscopes. About three-quarters of the bits they've found are fragments of larger items such as bottles. Smaller portions consist of microbeads, Styrofoam and other materials. But when Mason's team and a group from the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant program took samples from southern Lake Michigan in 2013, about 12 per cent of the debris consisted of microfibers. It's unclear why the fibers were three times as prevalent in that area as elsewhere in the lakes, although currents and wave actions may be one explanation, said Laura Kammin, pollution prevention specialist with Sea Grant. Ominously, the fibers seem to be getting stuck inside fish in ways that other microplastics aren't. Microbeads and fragments that fish eat typically pass through their bodies and are excreted. But fibers are becoming enmeshed in gastrointestinal tracts of some fish Mason and her students have examined. They also found fibers inside a double-crested cormorant, a fish-eating bird. "The longer the plastic remains inside an organism, the greater the likelihood that it will impact the organism in some way," Mason said, noting that many plastics are made with toxic chemicals or absorb them from polluted water. She is preparing a paper on how microplastics are affecting Great Lakes food chains, including fish that people eat. There's also a chance that fibers are in drinking water piped from the lakes, she said. Scientists reported last fall that two dozen varieties of German beer contained microplastics. Because microfibers are used so widely, there's no obvious solution, Mason said. Persuading people to stop wearing synthetic clothes likely would be a tougher sell than the idea of switching facial scrubs. But pollution prevention remains the best way to protect the lakes, Kammin said. "It's very hard to remove these microplastics once they're out there," she said. ___ Follow John Flesher on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JohnFlesher
2 tone z71 Posted January 10, 2015 Report Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) I think our government has more to be concerned with than micro plastics in the Great Lakes ..always pinning stuff on the consumer..let the lil man make all the changes ..they will be adding a tax for us now ..for wearing and using water polluting products Edited January 10, 2015 by North East Shark
SirCranksalot Posted January 10, 2015 Report Posted January 10, 2015 I read an article in Nat Geo that said the oceans are getting full of this stuff too.
Rod Caster Posted January 10, 2015 Report Posted January 10, 2015 The great lakes are certainly a catch basin for all kinds of stuff. More proof that we really don't know what we are doing. I vote on a microfibre tax!! kidding, kidding....
KLINKER Posted January 10, 2015 Report Posted January 10, 2015 My brother had a term for this, man made asbestos.
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