Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 16 March 2017

Yoga pants, cozy clothes may be key source of sea pollution

JENNIFER KAY Other recent studies have other apparel from synthet-
Associated Press shown that microfibers can ic materials — to support
KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — end up in the stomachs research into the preva-
Comfortable clothes are of marine animals, includ- lence of microfiber pollu-
emerging as a source of ing seafood, like oysters. tion and promote informa-
plastic that’s increasingly Experts increasingly sug- tion for consumers about
ending up in the oceans gest that manufacturers of ways to minimize microfiber
and potentially contami- washing machines — not shedding in laundry.
nating seafood, according just body washes or other Consumer-focused efforts
to Gulf Coast researchers scrubbing detergents — such as Patagonia’s out-
launching a two-year study may need to be targeted reach, liquor giant Bacar-
of microscopic plastics in next in efforts to reduce di’s decision to stop adding
the waters from south Tex- plastic waste in the oceans. plastic straws and stirrers
as to the Florida Keys. The Gulf Coast study will to cocktails at company
The project , led by the use McGuire’s methodol- events, Miami Beach’s
Mississippi-Alabama Sea ogy to determine the prev- ban on Styrofoam contain-
Grant Consortium, will rely alence of microfibers and ers or the federal micro-
partly on volunteers partic- other microscopic plastics beads ban can help slow
ipating in coastal cleanup In this, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017 photo, a possible plastic microfiber, in the region’s waters. the rate of microfibers and
events. It also will expand left, is shown through a microscope during an examination of A plastic “garbage patch” other plastics adding up in
a year’s worth of data col- nearby ocean water in Key Largo, Fla. like one circulating in the the oceans, but the pollu-
lected around the state of Associated Pres Pacific Ocean is unlikely in tion also needs to be ad-
Florida that predominantly the microfibers into natu- from rinse-off cosmetic the Gulf of Mexico, but the dressed at its source and
found microfibers — shreds ral waterways, eventually products in 2015 because regional study may reveal at wastewater treatment
of plastic even smaller reaching the sea. of the potential threat to coastal areas particularly plants, Wessel said.
than microbeads flowing “Anything that’s nylon or fish and other wildlife. prone to the accumulation “It would be really great
down bathroom sinks and polyester, like the fleece- Instead, McGuire predomi- of plastics, said Caitlin Wes- if the washing machine
shower drains. type jackets,” University of nantly found microfibers, sel, regional coordinator companies would get on
Yoga pants, Patagonia’s Florida researcher Maia even smaller than micro- for the National Oceanic board and come up with
cozy jackets, sweat-wick- McGuire said. beads and coming from and Atmospheric Adminis- a filter to trap these micro-
ing athletic wear and oth- When McGuire set out to places most people don’t tration’s Marine Debris Pro- fibers,” Wessel said. “I think
er garments made from study the kinds of plastic consider dangerous to ma- gram. “There hasn’t been there’s a big push right now
synthetic materials shed found in Florida waters, she rine life: their closets. a lot of baseline study — nobody really disagrees
microscopic plastic fibers expected to mostly find Studies of the Great Lakes covering microplastics, that marine debris is an is-
— called “microfibers” — microbeads — the brightly and New York Harbor and and the studies that have sue that needs to be ad-
when they’re laundered. colored plastic spheres the its surrounding waterways been done haven’t been dressed.”
Wastewater systems flush U.S. government banned found high concentra- as wide-reaching,” Wessel McGuire’s Florida Micro-
tions of plastics pollution, said. “We’re hoping to use plastic Awareness Proj-
WE BRING OUR LIVE GIRL ON GIRL SHOW TO YOU including microbeads. Mc- the data as a baseline but ect from September 2015
Guire’s data from Florida also find sources of micro- to August 2016 analyzed
waters, compiled from plastics and find out what samples collected by
1-liter samples run through types of microplastics are volunteers from 256 sites
filters fine enough to catch the biggest issue in the around the state’s penin-
microfibers missed by the Gulf.” The effects of micro- sula and the Florida Keys.
trawls used in the larger fibers in the food chain re- Eighty-nine percent con-
studies, adds to the grow- main under investigation, tained at least one piece
ing amount of research but the emerging data has of plastic.
focused on plastic pieces prompted clothing com- Microfibers comprised the
that degrade but never re- pany Patagonia — which vast majority of plastic
ally disappear. makes fleece jackets and found — 82 percent.q