Sources of Micro-plastic Pollution
Pollution is one of the rising issues in the present society. The amount of the contaminants that enter the environment from the various sources. There are a number of issues related to rise in the amount of pollutants being released in the air water and soil (Syberg et al., 2015). The pollutants range from a number of chemicals to micro plastics. The micro plastics are one of the largest pollutants affecting the environment due to the sheer number of the micro plastic in the different products.
The presence of the micro plastics in environment greatly affects the different parts of the society. The overall development of sustainable environment in the society should focus on the development of the plan to control the pollution in the society (Rochman et al., 2013). The rise in the amount of pollution and increase in amounts of micro plastics due to use of micro plastics in and hydrocarbons in a number of products leads pollution. It is a major issue and needs to be mitigated due to the rise in the amount of micro plastics.
The micro plastics are one of the major issues due to the rise in use of the polluting agents. The amount of pollutants that are left untouched leads to rise in the amount of pollution in the biome (Costa et al., 2008). The mitigation of the micro plastic pollution in the society need to be one by reassessing the situation of the pollution in the society.
The impact of the presence of the micro plastics in the different parts contaminating the human food chain and affecting their health and environment. The consumption of micro plastics is one of the major issues that leads to a number of diseases and health issues among the human as well as the animals.
Figure 1: Effect on Human Health
(Source: Prata, 2018)
The consumption of the food based on the products prepared from the marine animals who have consumed the micro plastics in different forms. The consumption of these food items brings the items in the food chain of human population. The consumption of the micro plastics leads to a number of diseases among the people in the society. One of the major issues in this context is the amount of micro plastics entering the human body (Prata, 2018). The ingestion of the micro plastics among the population leads to a major issue of accumulation of the micro plastics in the body. The increased intake of micro plastics may lead to a number of issues in the human body ranging from low metabolism, fat retention to high mortality rate. The accumulation of the micro plastics in the body of smaller animals is adversely affecting the overall population of the larger aquatic animals. The amount of plastics ingested by the human body greatly helps in identifying the amount of contamination that the human body is facing. The contaminants range forms the micro plastics that are found in the things if daily use to the ones that are absorbed in animal tissues. Micro plastics that are ingested by the humans’ maybe distributed to the secondary tissues affecting their functioning (Rist et al., 2018). The knowledge about the topics and the effect of the injection of micro plastic is very limited and therefore it is tough to understand the implications of ingestion of micro plastics by human population.
Ecological Impacts of Micro-plastics
Figure 2: Amount of Pollution in Oceans
(Source: Cózar et al., 2014)
There is limited amount of knowledge regarding the micro plastic ingestion among humans and their effects have also not been studied in detail. The amount of micro plastic ingested by the human body may vary according to dietary habits of the individual. There are a number of evidences which suggest that the micro plastics are present in number of human foods that are consumed daily by the people. The amount of micro plastics that are ingested by the humans according to their dietary habits and the residential area (Kühn, Rebolledo & van Franeker, 2015). There have been number of recent studies which suggest that micro plastic of the size of less than 20 micrometer can penetrate the cell walls and enter the cellular system affecting the overall functioning of the cell. The amount of micro plastic in the seafood however is relatively very low and the chance of intoxication is also therefore limited. Search the understanding of the threats that the micro plastics Pose is in its early stages it is tough to understand the long term effect that make the human body vulnerable to the effects of micro plastics (Cózar et al, 2014). Micro plastic and its role in the digestion and the consumption by the human body is not conclusive and the cellular transference may have an important role in it affecting the body.
Figure 3: Micro plastic Pollutants in the Oceans
(Source: Eriksen et al., 2014)
Most extreme affect the micro plastic has is on the livestock. These animals which produce products for human consumption as well as themselves are used for meet often the world’s most affected by the micro plastic contamination. It enters the system through the food they eat or gradual grazing around because the content of the soil has also gradually reason to dangerous levels. There are a number of reasons for the rise in the amount of micro plastics that are entering the body of the animals (Koelmans et al., 2016). The various reasons that can be cited for the contamination of animals buy this element can be:
Figure 4: Amount of Micro plastic in Animal Feces and Soil
(Source: Nature.org, 2017)
Firstly the use of Hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon based products as the raw material of manufacturing majority of the things in the present society poses a major threat of contamination. It is singer in the present society majority of the products used hydrocarbon based fuels and other elements for their functioning. This helps in the creation of a majority of plastic wastes which are in soil for long term and contaminate it with micro plastics (Sherman & Van Sebille, 2016). The gravity affected by this as the presence of micro plastics reduces fertility of soil resulting in the effect on growth of plants in an area. Due to the contamination l the uptake of the micro plastics sometimes enter the system of the trees and affect their growth. It is also possible that if the integer system it can become a part of the human and animal food chain. The micro plastic play poisoning of the different animals are a result of this wastes and pollutants entering the environment.
Impact of Micro-plastics on Human Health
Figure 5: Micro plastic Sample in Soil of Urban Area
(Source: Dris et al., 2016)
Secondly the over dependence and plastic as the raw material for production of a large number of goods is also affecting the overall amount of plastic contamination in the environment. Large number of raw materials based on plastic also converts to large amount of vestigial elements that are made of plastic. Do their cost effective in most of the countries where the recycling is not efficient they end up in large landfills and open areas. These waste materials are often consumed by scavengers and a number of animals entering the human food chain. Other than that these pollutants also gradually enter the soil where they are kept for a long time. In most countries where the grazing of animals is not regulated these micro plastics enter the body as they feed on the landfills near search landfills due to the food and non-biodegradable materials like plastic been discarded in the same place.
Thirdly and most importantly, the waste disposal method in a number of cities have to be checked and control to understand the contamination level that it there causing in the soils. Heavy industrialized areas produce a large number of me base and in majority of third world countries which are upcoming in economy is they do not have sustainable ways of addressing the issue of pollution. These countries are largely dependent on the development of industrialization and modernization with other countries. In this effort that tend to overlook the fact that their effort maybe harming the environment in the long term. The slacks that prevent the environment from developing also provides an opportunity for a number of upcoming Industries to set up businesses without paying much heed to the international pollution and pollutant norms. This also grossly effects the pollution and the amount of micro plastic pollution in the environment. Since the industries train to have no control over the contamination levels and they tend to overlook the safety measures the amount of micro plastic contamination in these countries have reached dangerous limits (Wright & Kelly, 2017). In countries like China there have been cases of contamination of the regular use salt by the micro plastics.
Figure 6: Mass of Plastics in Ocean Sinks
(Source: Sherman, & Van Sebille, 2016)
Other than a few cities you have taken up active recycling majority of the cities produce sewage sludge which is an active source of micro plastic most countries even today practice the direct disposal of the city waste into the river systems most countries even today practice the direct disposal of the city waste into the river systems which is costly affecting the amount of pollutants and drink the marine ecology. There are places in the river system of some countries where the water is fill to such an extent with pollutants that no organism can survive it.
Waste Disposal and Pollution Control Measures
Conclusion
Therefore it can be said that there are a number of factors which contribute to the micro plastic pollution in the society and they have a number of ill effects on the health of the people. The human consumption of the micro plastics is one of the major issues that have been found out and they cause a number of diseases. There are evidences of the presence of the micro plastics in a number of organisms living in the aquatic environments affecting their overall development. The uptake of the micro plastics by the animals cause them to enter the food chain and be consumed by humans however their effects are not completely understood.
The contamination levels of the mircro plastics in the society have reached levels where they are affecting the environment in many ways. The effects range from affecting the biodiversity to entering food chain and causing health problems. The worst affected areas in this case are the marine ecosystems of oceans where majority of plastic and hydrocarbons are dumped.
To counter the problem of micro plastic pollution there should be number no swears ranging from control of the pollutants from entering the environment to recycling. The presence of the continents in the environment have read have both in the natural balance of the ecosystem. The factors that are to be paid attention on to mitigate this problem are the level of plastic pollution and ways in which day can be controlled and recycled (Van Sebille et al., 2015). Depending on the level of contamination did the soil is undergoing a number methods can be put into used for its mitigation. The different ways in which the pollution of micro plastics in the environment can be mitigated include the cleaning of the river and sea water of the micro plastic, waste control and a number of recycling techniques (Lebreton et al., 2017).
Figure 7: Conversion of Plastics in Environment
(Source: Eriksen et al., 2018)
Recycling is one of the best techniques to control pollution in the environment. Recycling focuses on the reuse of the material which are considered waste and can be remolded into other products of use. Plastics and micro plastics are one such production that can be used and reused multiple times without any deterioration in their quality. The recycling of the products will decrease the amount will have in the environment. Moreover, recycling will also focus on reusing the already wasted plastic materials that are clogging the water bodies and present in the wind fields in various areas. One of the major pollutants in the modern society is the technological waste and the biomedical waste most of which consist of high levels of good quality plastic which are wasted due to non-recycling (Tanaka et al. 2013). Recycling of the plastics and micro plastics will help them back into the cycle of usage and thereby reduce the pollution that is being caused. Recycling with also help in the reduction of the production of new amount of plastics and micro plastics which will help in controlling the amount that is there in environment. The recycling of the different products that made of plastic will be more sustainable overall development of the environment.
Figure 8: Seasonal output of plastics from river to oceans in different continents
(Source: Lebreton et al., 2017)
Cleaning of the seas is one of the major way to get rid of the plastics entering into the Marine ecosystem. As the sea is being used as a constant dumping ground for various waste created by the humans there are increase number of cases where there exist Islands of plastic floating in the sea. It is necessary to reduce the amount of plastic because it to the animals by entering the body system as microscopic as well as joining them will larger plastic bags (Van Cauwenberghe et al., 2013). The cleaning of these islands of plastic and plastics settled on the coral reefs will require extreme proficiency and planning. The large amount of area that is covered by plastic in the ocean should be removed and then the water has to be cleared by sieving techniques to remove the micro plastics from remaining in the water (Dris et al., 2016). The improved methods of mitigation of micro plastics marine ecosystem would also include refrain from dumping of the plastic products directly into the ocean. It has to be considered that the products that are thrown into the ocean should not be toxic or non-biodegradable so that it does not have effect on the marine ecology. The marine ecosystem is very fragile as it consists of aquatic animals and a number of plants which survive due to the sunlight that into the water and the floating debris of plastic affects the amount of sunlight that the plans and aquatic animals get.
One of the largest producer of micro plastics and plastic pollutants are the industries based in the cities. In most developing and developed countries which industry is dumped industrial water and sewage directly into rivers the amount of micro plastic pollution in the water is much more. Moreover in most cities river also carry the load of waste that are created in the household. This toxic sewage should be treated before it is allowed to enter the rivers. The toxic industrial sludge micro plastics and a number of hydrocarbons which adversely affect the ecosystem in a number of ways. To mitigate this there should be water treatment plants made compulsory for industries and the city should have them to clean their daily vestigial water (Eriksen et al., 2014). This is the best measures that can used to control the contamination of micro plastic in water and soil as well. If the rivers are free of contamination there a lower chance of contamination of micro plastics in the soil. The treatment plant should also held in the overall cleanliness maintenance of the society. Water treatment plants play a major role in maintaining environmental balance as they help in treating the water and making the water pure again in most cases reusable (de Stephanis et al., 2013). Sewage treatment and disposal plants also help in removing the biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes which payment the plastic from mixing with biodegradable waste and entering the food chain.
Figure 9: Microplastics (MP) <500 mm in treated waste water (TWW) of 12 waste watertreatment plants (WWTP) in Lower Saxony (Germany).
(Source: Mintenig et al., 2017)
Control of technological waste is one of the most important measures that are to be taken to control micro plastic pollution. Most of the technological equipment the parts of very small plastic materials which are thrown away creating large waste channel. In the current society technology is advancing rapidly and with it the waste is also increasing with time. The control of technological waste will help in bringing down the micro plastic levels in the environment. This is a practice which is putting used by a number of large technological Giants as a CSR policy. The taking their old products and reuse the materials to make new ones (Mintenig et al., 2017). The technological wastes that are crated in a number of forms range from the use of silicon chips top the bodies of the technological products. One of the major issues in this context is that these products tend to cause a major harm to the society due to the overall increase in the pollutants entering the soil due to the technological waste that are created. In most of the technological products the recyclable waste consists of a number of pollutants entering the soil.
The training of the various industrialist to use the micro plastic waste pellets to create alternate good or convert them to energy will help in the control of the wastes produced. The economic perspective of connecting the various waste to the overall economy will help in the waste management with the economic development of the society. The inclusion of the different sources helping in the conversion of the energy from the micro plastic waste (Deepseanews.com, 2016). This is sustainable for the society and the environment as it helps in establishing the relation between the society and the environment. The conversion of the plastic waste to energy is one of the best measures that are to be taken to control the micro plastic pollution in the different sources. The use of the micro plastic to create energy is both sustainable and environment friendly which will improve the pollution problem as well as the amount of the environment friendly energy that can be created (Hse.gov.uk, 2002).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded from the above discussion that one of the major global environmental concerns is based on pollution of various kinds. Pollution has its own impact owing to the source of the issue and micro plastic or plastic based goods are some of the major causes of land and water pollution. More and more people are being aware of the consequences; governments all over the world are ensuring that environmental education is a part of the course so that people understand the threat and its intensity. Some of the causes of plastic pollution are: technological waste, sewage disposal in water bodies, landfills etc. In order to combat these issues the authoritative bodies can ensure some of the following remedies like innovation in technologies to clean the ocean on a large scale, the initiation of projects like Plastic Island, developing water treatment and sewage disposal plants etc.
References
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