"$56"-*5 4r/&84
Microbead plastic problem in Ottawa River
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
of the river. Dr. Meaghan Murphy of the Ottawa Riverkeepers and Dr. Jesse Vermaire of Carleton University were joint leaders of the survey and the overall study results. They used a manta trawl net system to comb the river surface with a fine-mesh net attached to a motorboat. They took samples from above and below the outlet for the City of Ottawa’s municipal sewage treatment plant outlet. Assisting them was a team of 20 volunteer “citizen scientists” from the Riverwatch program who collected hand- filtered samples from the river from sites further upstream and downstream of the section where Drs. Murphy and Vermaire were operating. Initial results of the study indicate the Ottawa River has a concentration of micro- plastic particle pollution equal to that in the Great Lakes tributaries region and several major rivers in Europe. Concentrations are three times higher downstream from the sewage treatment plant outlet than they are upstream. Microplastic particle pollution includes both tiny fragments of plastic less than five millimetres in size that come from house- hold, commercial, or industrial products or from clothing made of synthetic materials. These fragments end up either flushed or washed down drains. It also includes plastic microbeads used in a variety of personal care products like tubes of toothpaste or cans of hairspray, which may end up leaching out into the water table through careless disposal. “It is worrying how wide-spread this type of pollution really is,” stated Dr. Murphy in a news release, “and how little we actually know of the long-term impacts on river health and human health.” These bits of plastic do not break down and thus become part of the aquatic envi- ronment and may also become part of the river’s own food chain when fish, birds, or animals swallow them. There is an inter- national movement now to ban the use of microbeads in personal care products, based on previous studies in other countries. In December 2015 the U.S. government ban- ned the use of microbeads in personal care products like toothpaste and shampoos. The Canadian government has listed microbeads as “a toxic substance” under the Canadian Environmental Act and plans on putting a full ban into effect by December 2017. “The microbead ban is set to be a major victory for Canada’s waterways,” stated Pa- trick Nadeau, Ottawa Riverkeeper executive director. “However, until the ban is actually put in place, microbeads will continue to make their way into our watershed’s rivers. We all need to do our part by continuing to pressure the government to implement this ban in a timely manner, and avoiding the purchase of products that contain micro- beads.” “More than 90 percent of the microplastic pollution in the Ottawa River comes from sources other than personal care products,” stated Dr. Murphy. “We can all do our part by going on a plastic diet—reducing, reusing and recycling the plastics we do use, and pic- king up plastic litter in our neighborhoods. But the government needs to do its part too. We need more research on the environmen- tal impacts of these pollutants and strategies for reducing inputs from other major sources besides personal care products.”
A joint study by a regional environmental watchdog group and Carleton University has confirmed that the Ottawa River has a large amount of tiny fragments of plastic floating around below its surface. The ques- tion now is what kind of problems does that pose both for the plants and animals that are part of the Ottawa River environment and also communities located along the river that may depend upon it for drinking water. The Ottawa Riverkeepers group and Carleton University, based in Ottawa, have released the initial results of a study that in- cluded a 550-kilometre survey of the Ottawa River, from Lake Timiskaming in northern Ontario to Hudson, Quebec, near the mouth
The Ottawa River is a popular recreation feature for residents of and visitors to Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. But now it seems to have gained a less-savoury distinction with the results of a recent study on the presence of microplastic pollution in the river.
SOXVGHXQLWpVHQVWRFNGDQVODSOXVJUDQGHVDOOHGHPRQWHGH356'*MXVTXªDXRFWREUH 528/(=75$9$,//(=&+$66(= e3$5*1(= 685 /( 9e+,&8/( ,'e$/ 3285 9286
VXUOHVYpKLFXOHVKRUVURXWH
GHUDEDLV
-XVTXªj
528/(=685/(66(17,(56 /(66(
jSDUWLUGH
DYHF GHJDUDQWLH DQV
5(1(*$'(;[F5
&200$1'(5
0$9(5,&.
287/$1'(5/
528/(='$16/$%28(
jSDUWLUGH
0$9(5,&.;PU5
5(1(*$'(;PU
287/$1'(5;PU 287/$1'(5;PU5 287/$1'(5;PU5
75$9$,//(=
jSDUWLUGH
'()(1'(5&$%
287/$1'(5[
'()(1'(5;7+'
'()(1'(5%$6(
&+$66(= &+
+XQWLQJ(GLWLRQjSDUWLUGH
287/$1'(5;7
&200$1'(5
'()(1'(5'36+'
287/$1'(5 287
ª$11e( &21&(66,21$,5('(/ª$11e( +2565287(',675,&7'(/ª(67&$1$',(1 ª(67&$1$',(1 &2 +
UXH7XSSHU+DZNHVEXU\21 7D[HVHQVXV 0RGqOHVQHXIVHWGpPRV%RPEDUGLHU3URGXLWV5pFUpDWLIVLQF %53 7RXVGURLWVUpVHUYpV0&HWOHORJR%53VRQWGHVPDUTXHVGH FRPPHUFHGH%53RXGHVHVVRFLpWpVDI¿OLpHV2IIUHVYDODEOHVDX&DQDGDVHXOHPHQWHQWUHOHHUVHSWHPEUHDXRFWREUH/HVFRQGLWLRQVSHXYHQWYDULHUG XQH SURYLQFHjO DXWUHHWODSURPRWLRQSHXWSUHQGUH¿QRXrWUHPRGL¿pHHQWRXWWHPSVVDQVSUpDYLV&RQVXOWH]YRWUHFRQFHVVLRQQDLUH%53SDUWLFLSDQWSRXUWRXVOHVGpWDLOV 2%7(1(='(65$%$,6685/(602'Ê/(66e/(&7,211e6 /HUDEDLVHVWDSSOLFDEOHjO DFKDWG XQ977RXG¶XQYpKLFXOHF{WHjF{WH&DQ$PGHVDQQpHV PRGqOHVQHXIHWQRQXWLOLVp/HPRQWDQWGXUDEDLVGpSHQGGXPRGqOHDFKHWp-XVTX jpSXLVHPHQWGHVVWRFNV%53VHUpVHUYHOHGURLWHQWRXWWHPSVGHUHWLUHURXGH PRGL¿HUGHVVSpFL¿FDWLRQVSUL[GHVVLQVFDUDFWpULVWLTXHVPRGqOHVRXpTXLSHPHQWVVDQVDXFXQHREOLJDWLRQGHVDSDUW*DUGH]WRXMRXUVjO HVSULWTXHO DOFRROOHVGURJXHV HWODFRQGXLWHQHIRQWSDVERQPpQDJH1HWHQWH]MDPDLVG HIIHFWXHUGHVPDQ°XYUHVVSHFWDFXODLUHV&RQGXLVH]WRXMRXUVSUXGHPPHQWHWGHIDoRQUHVSRQVDEOH/HVSUL[ HWUDEDLVVXUFHWWHSXEOLFLWpV DSSOLTXHQWVXUOHVYpKLFXOHVDI¿FKpV' DXWUHVUDEDLVV DSSOLTXHQWVXUOHVDXWUHVPRGqOHV
ZZZPD[LPXPSRZHUVSRUWVFD
Made with FlippingBook HTML5