Micro-plastics have been accumulating in the surfaces of oceans, affecting negatively marine life and humans, as well. Just recently, researchers have found that the same man-made pollutants are roaming in the great lakes up to about 650,000 micro-plastic particles per square kilometer.
Sherri Mason, an environmental chemist, together with other researchers, took 21 water samples from the Superior, Erie, and Huron lakes and discovered that some areas have high concentration of small plastic particles.
Exactly how these plastic pollutants have reached the lakes and how they are shared between different bodies of water remain obscure. Nevertheless, they certainly have come from humans — from the microbeads added to cosmetic products and from the plastic bottles and other products that eventually degrade into tiny plastic pieces and may regroup into larger particles.
Micro-plastics that float around the lakes and oceans have undoubtedly made their way into the food chain, with humans also inevitably affected. Perhaps it’s nature’s way of obtaining justice as these plastics are made by by humans, too.
As what Mason said, “The reality is that all plastic we see in the environment makes its way into the water, which mean it’s making its way ultimately into us. What we find in the lakes is coming from us, so we’re the problem but we’re also the solution.”
