Scientist says microplastic in the ocean is a ‘huge concern’
Posted July 10, 2016 11:11 am.
Last Updated July 10, 2016 11:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After years of us washing plastic microbeads down the drain, a local scientist is applauding the federal government’s recent decision to list the beads as a toxic substance.
But, the director of the Ocean Pollution Research Program at the Vancouver Aquarium says there is much more to be done.
Dr. Peter Ross says in his research, he doesn’t actually see a lot of microbeads, but he does see a lot of little bits of plastic from other sources.
He says Canadians need to realize the microplastic problem is a huge concern for our waters, and we need to re-think how we look at the material.
“We really need to understand more about where all of these little bits of plastic pollution are coming from in our oceans, and unfortunately means more science. It does mean we need more answers, it does mean we have to ask these questions and get out there.”
Ross says only when we better understand that, will we be able to come up with solutions to reduce the amount of microplastics that end up in our oceans.
He adds everyone needs to be part of a conversation.
“The individual level, at the consumer level, at the household level, the public school educational level, industrial best practices, and yes, government regulations.”
Ross says it’s not about eliminating plastics from our lives.
“I think there are lots of ways that we can improve the efficiency of our plastic economy, and it’s not simply a question of reducing or eliminating plastic from products because plastics are a wonderful way to achieve a number of things, whether it saves foods, or light, unbreakable transportation for beverages, there are lots of good applications.”
He thinks the problem comes when you don’t have a good afterlife economy for those products. “We tend to think of plastics as recyclable, but the fact of the matter is, that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 85 to 90 per cent of plastics are not recycled in the global economy and that means these are ending up in landfills or in the ocean where they break down. So I think there’s a lot that we can learn about improving the way in which we cycle plastics through our economy.”
He believes that will involve multiple sectors and every single one of us.
