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The purpose of the What are Microplastics? infographic is to show audiences what microplastics are, how small they are, where they come from and what steps individuals can take to reduce them in the environment. It describes steps that individuals can do to help reduce their microplastic footprint and provides samples of everyday items we use that can eventually create microplastics. Additionally, we've provided a scale to show just how small these microplastics are, less than 5mm!

If you are interested in sharing this information with your local audiences, you can find it on the UF/IFAS Branding infographics webpage https://branding.ifas.ufl.edu/infographics/ under the Natural Resources/Water topic.

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Florida Sea Grant What are Microplastics Infographic

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The purpose of the What are Microplastics? infographic is to show audiences what microplastics are, how small they are, where they come from and what steps individuals can take to reduce them in the environment. It describes steps that individuals can do to help reduce their microplastic footprint and provides samples of everyday items we [...]

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The average person eats, drinks and breathes between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles every year - and that is considered an underestimate. New research entitled ' Human Consumption of Microplastics' by Cox et al. published in Environmental Science & Technology this week presents an analysis of 26 studies from around the world and calculates the average amount of microplastics found in common consumables.

As our infographic shows, the biggest known source of microplastic which enters our bodies is bottled water. Based on 4 separate studies, the average number of particles per liter is 94. Beer has the second highest number, at 32, but it is that in third place which may cause the most alarm. Air inhaled by humans, based on two studies conducted in France and Turkey, contains an average of 9.80 particles per m³. For reference, the EPA's Exposure Factors Handbook says that a 31-51 year old inhales an average of 16 m³ per day.

Description

This chart shows the average number of microplastic particles found per gram/liter/m3 of selected consumables.

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Infographic: How We Eat, Drink and Breathe Microplastics

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The average person eats, drinks and breathes between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles every year - and that is considered an underestimate. New research entitled ' Human Consumption of Microplastics' by Cox et al. published in Environmental Science & Technology this week presents an analysis of 26 studies from around the world and calculates the average amount of microplastics found in common consumables.

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En español
Un estudio hecho por el Monterey Bay Aquarium crea una nueva base de datos de libre acceso para identificar mejor las fuentes de contaminación por plástico. La biblioteca del microplástico permitirá hacer una conexión entre la contaminación del océano y sus fuentes alrededor del mundo, y aportará soluciones a la crisis mundial de contaminación por plástico.
Una investigación realizada por el Monterey Bay Aquarium y el Instituto de Investigación MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) ofrece una nueva biblioteca espectral Raman de libre acceso que puede usarse para detectar "huellas" moleculares de partículas, y para rastrear mejor las fuentes de contaminación por plástico. El estudio publicado en el sitio Scientific Data , ofrece a los científicos un recurso gratuito aún más extenso y provechoso del que existía con anterioridad. Con el fin de prevenir errores de identificación y mejorar la precisión de resultados, esta nueva biblioteca incorpora 42 tipos de polímeros no incluidos en otras bibliotecas de libre acceso, y es la primera en incluir polímeros de partículas no plásticas, como: los pastos marinos, las conchas y el tejido animal.

El estudio crea una biblioteca de distintos tipos de polímeros para relacionar los contaminantes plásticos ya conocidos con aquellos recién descubiertos. Los investigadores del Acuario prevén que otros científicos construyan y utilicen bibliotecas de libre acceso que contengan más y más tipos de polímeros, pues de esa manera se podrá comprender y enfrentar mejor la crisis mundial de contaminación por plástico.

"La contaminación por plástico en el océano es un problema a nivel mundial, y para enfrentarla se requerirá de la ayuda de una comunidad internacional de científicos. Para recomendar cómo evitar cada una de las vías de contaminación, lo primero que se requiere es que los científicos identifiquen el tipo de microplástico del que se trata", comenta la autora principal Emily Miller, Investigadora Senior del Monterey Bay Aquarium. "Muchos de los investigadores no pueden permitirse el acceso a las bibliotecas espectrales de plástico necesarias para la identificación, y por ello, su valioso trabajo se ve obstaculizado. Nosotros no quisimos crear obstáculos para otros, por esa razón nuestro equipo creó esta biblioteca espectral con la intención de que estuviera a disposición de todos".

Identificar las partículas de microplástico no es tan sencillo como parece. Aun con el uso de un microscopio, puede ser complicado distinguir entre una fibra de plástico y una fibra orgánica. Los investigadores que participaron en el estudio usaron la espectroscopía Raman para identificar pequeños materiales desconocidos. Con el uso de un láser apuntando al material de muestra, la luz se dispersa en función a su estructura química, creando una huella molecular única. Después se busca la coincidencia de esa huella con la de plásticos ya conocidos dentro de una biblioteca.

Una vez hecho lo anterior, los científicos construyeron la biblioteca. Esto permitió identificar más de cuarenta tipos de plástico. La mayoría de los datos se centran en los sistemas cercanos a las costas del Océano Pacífico, e incluyen los plásticos asociados con la agricultura costera y la pesca.

La biblioteca incluye tanto plásticos nuevos como desgastados; y para evitar errores de identificación, también se incluyen biopolímeros que no son el objetivo, pero que comúnmente se encuentran en el medio ambiente marino.

A nivel general, el estudio aporta 24 nuevos tipos de plástico, y 18 tipos biológicos que no eran parte de las anteriores bases de datos. Dos de estos nuevos tipos de plástico recién aportados provinieron de artes o equipos de pesca marítima.

Un estudio del año 2019, dirigido por el Monterey Bay Aquarium y MBARI, también utilizó la espectroscopía Raman para demostrar que la contaminación por microplástico puede encontrarse en cualquier hábitat marino de nuestro planeta Tierra. Los científicos estiman que a nivel mundial, cada año más de nueve millones de toneladas de plástico llegan de la tierra al mar. Para solucionar la crisis de contaminación por plástico, es necesario identificar los tipos de plásticos que hay dentro del océano y en otros lugares. Esto ayudará a determinar de dónde proviene el plástico, y cómo ha ingresado al medio ambiente.

Al reciclarse tan solo el 9% del plástico cada año, y con los materiales plásticos dañando la vida silvestre marina, incluidas las tortugas, mamíferos y aves de mar, este estudio permite priorizar los esfuerzos que a nivel mundial se realizan para prevenir la contaminación por plástico.

La biblioteca de libre acceso no solo sirve como una base de datos importante, sino que también elimina los obstáculos que impiden obtener información clave, como los costosos muros de pago. De esta manera, todos los científicos tienen la posibilidad de trabajar unidos en la comprensión del problema de la contaminación por plástico a nivel mundial, y en la búsqueda de soluciones.

Esta biblioteca también ayudará a los investigadores a ampliar su conocimiento acerca de las fuentes del microplástico señaladas en el informe del 2021 de National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: "Reckoning with the US Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste".

"El Acuario tiene el compromiso de enfrentar la crisis de contaminación por plástico, con el fin de mejorar la salud de nuestro océano y nuestro planeta", señaló Aimee David, vicepresidenta de Conservación Oceánica de California y Estados Unidos del Monterey Bay Aquarium. "Necesitamos de la mejor ciencia posible para crear las mejores soluciones, y lograr avances tanto a nivel local como internacional. Esto también incluye la creación de un nuevo tratado mundial sobre la contaminación por plástico. Al desbloquear información clave para identificar los distintos tipos de plásticos en el océano, los científicos pueden hacer uso de la nueva biblioteca espectral Raman, y relacionar la contaminación del océano con sus fuentes de origen alrededor de todo el mundo".

Acerca del Monterey Bay Aquarium
Con la misión de inspirar la conservación del océano, el Monterey Bay Aquarium es el acuario más admirado en los Estados Unidos. Es líder en educación de las ciencias, y una voz a favor de la conservación del océano a través de programas integrales en ciencias marinas y políticas públicas. Todo lo que hacemos está dirigido hacia la protección del futuro de nuestro planeta azul.

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Monterey Bay Aquarium study creates new open-access database to better identify plastic pollution sources | Press Release | Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Microplastics library will help connect ocean pollution to its sources around the world, inform solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis.

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Potential Health Impacts of Microplastics

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Potential Health Impacts of Microplastics

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file:///Users/cslown/Downloads/li-et-al-2023-potential-health-impact-of-microplastics-a-review-of-environmental-distribution-human-exposure-and-toxic.pdf

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-021-00411-y

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What if you knew exactly what was littering your community? Every object, material, brand, and their locations. Maps of hotspots and illegal dumpsites. With our Analyze platform, governments, communities, and enterprise customers can diagnose the state of litter, and take tangible action to prevent it from happening in the first place.

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What if you knew exactly what was littering your community? Every object, material, brand, and their locations. Maps of hotspots and illegal dumpsites. With our Analyze platform, governments, communities, and enterprise customers can diagnose the state of litter, and take tangible action to prevent it from happening in the first place.

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Microplastics on National Park Beaches Infographic | OR&R's Marine Debris Program

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This infographic represents results from the Quantification of Microplastics on National Park Beaches report, which was the product of a project funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program and led by the National Park Service and Clemson University. For more detailed information, check out the report.

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The Statista "Chart of the Day" currently focuses on two sectors: "Media and Technology", updated daily and featuring the latest statistics from the media, internet, telecommunications and consumer electronics industries; and "Economy and Society", which current data from the United States and around the world relating to economic and political issues as well as sports and entertainment.

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Infographic: Where the Ocean's Microplastics Come From

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This chart shows the estimated share of total microplastics in the world's oceans, by source.

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Between 1970 and 2017, shipping grew 3% annually and marine plastics from ships grew too. The main sources of (micro)plastics from ships at sea are garbage, microplastics from ropes and marine coatings, lost containers, microfibers from cruise ships' grey waters, lost fishing nets, traps, and lines.

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Infographic: plastic and microplastic pollution from ships - Seas At Risk

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Between 1970 and 2017, shipping grew 3% annually and marine plastics from ships grew too. The main sources of (micro)plastics from ships at sea are garbage, microplastics from ropes and marine coatings, lost containers, microfibers from cruise ships' grey waters, lost fishing nets, traps, and lines.

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Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory

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Summary

Plastic, and subsequent microplastic pollution is a known hazard in our seas, but its full cycle from source, through transportation, to fate is less discussed. This infographic aims to introduce microplastic pollution, and its life cycle, to early secondary school students to engage them in the topic of plastic pollution and encourage them to become active and thoughtful citizens.

Transcript

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than 5 mm in length, coming in all different shapes and types of plastic. Primary microplastics are those which enter the environment already as microplastic. Secondary microplastics are larger pieces of plastic which break up into smaller pieces within the environment itself, like in this infographic.
Where does it come from?
Plastic is a man-made material, usually made from fossil fuels. Most ocean plastic pollution comes from sources on land including rubbish dumps, industry and sewage water.
Where does it go?
Once in our ocean, plastic pollution is transported around the globe by ocean currents that are like huge conveyorbelts.
How does it break up?
As plastic spends more time in the water it gets weakened by the waves and UV light from the sun. Eventually it breaks up into tiny pieces of plastic known as microplastic.
How is it dangerous?
Plastic is an absorbant material, allowing it to carry harmful toxins on its surface which can be fatal for marine animals ranging from the smallest baby turtle to the biggest whale in the ocean through a process called bioaccumulation!
Activity
Now you know more about the story of microplastic, how about being a real life microplastic researcher and looking up online how the words highlighted in blue contribute to our plastic pollution problem?

Think about the following questions:

1. What can you do personally in your home/school/community to reduce plastic pollution?

2. How are scientists, engineers and inventors working to help the problem?

Nia Jones

Nia's Envision profile
Email: niajones@bangor.ac.uk

Twitter: @_niahjones

Organisation: Bangor University

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★ Jones, Nia // The story of microplastic

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Plastic, and subsequent microplastic pollution is a known hazard in our seas, but its full cycle from source, through transportation, to fate is less discussed. This infographic aims to introduce microplastic pollution, and its life cycle, to early secondary school students to engage them in the topic of plastic pollution and encourage them to become active and thoughtful citizens.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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K-12 Resources - Florida SeaGrant Programs - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences - UF/IFAS

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The UF/IFAS Florida Extension Sea Grant program works closely with commercial and recreational fishing groups, marinas, environmentally-concerned groups, 4-H and other youth programs, local school teachers, and marine researchers. Within this section, you will find information about the sources of m…

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This curriculum includes three lessons intended to engage 6th- to 8th-grade students with the issue of microplastics in the ocean, analyzing both the problem and possible solutions. The lessons are structured to include opportunities for student inquiry, as well as collaboration and engagement with real data collected by scientific researchers working in the field. Each lesson includes an estimated length, which will vary by classroom. The entire curriculum is designed to take about one week, but may be extended by including a project at the end of the curriculum.

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Mitigating Microplastics: Teacher Lesson Plans [curriculum]

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This curriculum includes three lessons intended to engage 6th- to 8th-grade students with the issue of microplastics in the ocean, analyzing both the problem and possible solutions. The lessons are structured to include opportunities for student inquiry, as well as collaboration and engagement with real data collected by scientific researchers working in the field.

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In the Ocean, It's Snowing Microplastics

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In the Ocean, It's Snowing Microplastics

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Students are introduced to the growing worldwide environmental problems that stem from plastic waste. What they learn about microplastics and the typical components of the U.S. water treatment process prepares them to conduct three engaging associated activities. During the lesson, students become more aware of the pervasiveness and value of plastic as well as the downstream pollution and health dangers. They learn how plastic materials don't go away, but become microplastic pollution that accumulates in water resources as well as human and other animal bodies. They examine their own plastic use, focusing on what they discard daily, and think about better ways to produce or package those items to eliminate or reduce their likelihood of ending up as microplastic pollution. A concluding writing assignment reveals their depth of comprehension. The lesson is enhanced by arranging for a local water treatment plant representative to visit the class for Qs and As. In three associated activities, students design/test microplastic particle filtering methods for commercial products, create mini wastewater treatment plant working models that remove waste and reclaim resources from simulated wastewater, and design experiments to identify the impact of microplastics on micro-invertebrates.
This engineering curriculum aligns to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, students should be able to:

Describe ways their lives might be different without the benefits of plastic.

Explain some ways that microplastics get into our bodies.

Explain how microplastic pollution can result from both ordinary plastic use and plastic disposal.

Think of ways that daily disposed-of plastic items could be produced or packaged to eliminate or reduce their likelihood of becoming microplastic pollution.

(optional; extension activity) Interpret and draw conclusions from scientific journal articles.

Educational Standards
Suggest an alignment not listed above

Pre-Req Knowledge

An understanding about the locations of regional water supplies and the relationships within food webs.

Introduction/Motivation

What do you think happens to a plastic cup or bottle after it is thrown away into the trash? (Listen to student responses.) That's right, when it comes to disposing the materials we use, there is no "away."

When we put something into the trash, it goes to the landfill. When we burn fuel, toxic gases and particles are released into the air. Whatever we flush down our drains is carried to streams and seas. In particular, all the plastic we use and dispose of daily is added to our growing "plastisphere"-the fragmented layer of discarded hydrocarbons that humans are rapidly creating in the land and water around the Earth (Zettler, 2013).

Microplastics originate from cosmetic products, washed clothing and the breakdown of larger plastic pieces. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines microplastics as hydrocarbon particles that are 5 mm or smaller in diameter-or about the size of a sesame seed (USDOC/NOAA, 2016). More and more people are becoming aware of this form of pollution. These pieces may be small, but the ripple effects of problems are huge. Ingestion of particles and byproducts by wildlife and humans are linked to disorders and diseases.

(Move on to conduct the post-introduction assessment to make the issue more personal. Then continue to present the background information and concepts, concluding with a visit by a representative from a local wastewater treatment if possible.)

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers
Microplastics
We live in the "plastic age." In the 1940s, people fantasized about the clean and efficient future world we would be able to create with the help of plastics. Developed in the early 1900s from petroleum refining byproducts, plastic is a human-made hydrocarbon material that is rapidly forming the "plastisphere," a fragmented layer of our creation around the Earth (Zettler, 2013). About 600 billion pounds of new plastic is produced annually for consumer products and packaging. Its beneficial utility as a versatile, moldable, lightweight and inexpensive material may ultimately be overshadowed by its exceptional and unwanted persistence. Students can act as R&D engineers in the associated activity Microplastic Extraction of Exfoliating Beads from Cleansers to design and test their own methods for filtering microplastic particles from a sample of a commercial personal care cleaning product. Students can further investigate the impacts of microplastics with the associated activity Tracing Fluorescent Plastics in an Aquatic Environment to design experiments to identify the impacts of microplastics in food webs found in a local natural water supply.

Whether formed into a pair of socks, a heart stent, a Corvette bumper or a candy wrapper, a typical piece of plastic remains wholly intact hundreds of years beyond its original intended use. Some plastic types, like the bioplastics made from polylactide acid (PLA), can biodegrade in a few weeks into less harmful monomers as bacteria digest them (Woodford, 2017). Other more widely used plastics, like the PVC used in plumbing and cling wrap, gradually release hormone-disrupting bisphenols into our bodies over a lifetime of repeated exposure (Inadera, 2015).

The ubiquitous presence of plastic in and around our planet's biosphere results in many health and environmental hazards. The production of plastic from petroleum produces airborne toxins and water pollutants. This includes recovered plastics that undergo a recycling process. The end-products commonly find their way into the environment as litter or landfill, and though it may take the forces of sunlight (photodegradation), friction and millions of microbes, microplastic pieces eventually drift through ecosystems causing harm to organisms.

In aquatic systems, bottles and bags form well-documented "gyres" or swirling refuse masses, and while these eyesores can entangle and choke wildlife (Browne, 2011), they mask the more serious issue of microplastic and byproduct particles that find their way into living tissue. Microplastics leaching from products to animals (including humans) results in developmental, neurologic and reproductive disorders and have been implicated in some types of cancer (Teuten, 2009).

Efforts to quantify plastic pollutants in our water are complicated by the fact that plastic is found in various forms, each posing a unique set of challenges for identification. Plastics are not magnetic, predictable in their decomposition, or easy to attach to molecular markers that would simplify tracing. Researchers have only recently begun to recognize the existence and issues associated with microplastic pollution and initiatives are now underway to eliminate the intentional introduction of plastic microbeads in cosmetic and cleanser products. Starting in 2017, the U.S. Microbead-Free Waters Act 2015 banned plastic microbeads in the manufacturing of certain cosmetics and personal care products (USDOC/NOAA, 2016). More research is needed in this field to accurately assess the amount and impact of plastic particles in the environment, and how to best clean up the debris and pollutants. As the future researchers and engineers, we could really use your good ideas!
WWTPs and WRRRFs
Since the development and implementation of the 1972 Clean Water Act, engineers and scientists have been developing methods for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to rid wastewater of pollutants. The Clean Water Act aims to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's natural waters. To do this, treatment plants remove solids and lower biological oxygen demand (BOD). Most facilities lower the BOD by removing ammonia from the wastewater. Depending on the permit, some facilities also remove phosphorus and nitrogen.

While no two WWTPs are exactly the same, the general process is composed of three main steps: Pre-treatment, primary treatment, and secondary treatment. Pre-treatment steps involve filtering out large solids and debris from incoming sewage using bar racks, removing heavy "grit," and equalizing the water flow into the primary treatment steps. Equalization must be done because the water does not come into the plant at a constant flow throughout the day. Morning and evening are busiest-when people are showering, cooking and doing laundry. After these pre-treatment steps, water is sent at a steady flow into treatment plants for cleaning.

During primary treatment, the influent water fills large basins called settlers or clarifiers where heavier debris settles and is removed from the tank bottom. In these basins, a slow-rotating bar usually moves across the top of the water to remove any floating material as well. Refer to the associated activity Creating Mini Wastewater Treatment Plants for students to create working wastewater treatment plant models in 2-liter plastic bottles to remove contaminants and reclaim resources from simulated wastewater.

Before the Clean Water Act, water was permitted to be returned to the environment after primary treatment. Since then, water must undergo secondary treatment to lower BOD levels. Usually, this is done using biological microorganisms to break down the ammonia and other organics still in the water. The community of microorganisms is often referred to as "sludge." After a set amount of time in the biological treatment basins, wastewater is moved to yet another clarifying or settlement basin. In this basin, the sludge settles out and is dried, often at a different plant location. Because sludge is highly nutrient-rich, it is often used as fertilizer in commercial and residential farming.

Wastewater treatment plants are only required to treat water through the secondary steps described above. But often, plants sterilize the water using chlorine or UV light to ensure that it is safe to return to the ecosystem.

As our understanding of anthropogenic (human-generated) pollution increases, the wastewater treatment process may evolve to be more complex. For instance, plastics that are smaller in size than the initial pre-treatment bar grates that sewage runs through do not get removed during the remaining treatment process and end up in rivers.

Along with pollutant control, a new emphasis in the wastewater treatment industry is reclamation of the resources used during the treatment process. When this aspect is added to the water treatment process, the WWTPs are rebranded as water recycling and resource recovery facilities-WRRRFs-because they include operations such as recycling and treating the activated sludge into fertilizer and reclaiming methane gas produced by anaerobic organisms.

Associated Activities

Lesson Closure

A powerful lesson closure is a class visit by a representative of your local municipal wastewater treatment facility. Since students have just learned about water pollution, its impacts and the ways we might minimize these impacts, it is a great time for them to consider what can be done locally to benefit valuable water resources. Invite a water treatment and wastewater treatment operator, manager, civil/sanitary/environmental engineer or lab technician to come to your class to put this information in a real-world local context. Suggest that students write questions in advance of the visit to demonstrate their knowledge about water resources and dig deeper.

Vocabulary/Definitions

anthropogenic: Originating in human activity.

bioindicator: Any species (an "indicator species") or group of species whose function, population or status reveals the qualitative status of the environment.

biomagnification: The concentration of toxins in an organism as a result of its ingesting other plants or animals in which the toxins are more widely disbursed.

dissolved oxygen : The amount of free oxygen in solution in water or wastewater effluent. Adequate concentrations of dissolved oxygen are necessary for fish and other aquatic organisms to live and to prevent offensive odors. Abbreviated as DO.

effluent: The outflowing liquid from a treatment plant to a natural body of water after completion of the treatment process.

eutrophication: The process by which a reservoir, pond or lake becomes enriched with nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, that support the excess production of algae and other aquatic plant life.

flocculation: The process by which clumps of solids in sewage are made to increase in size by chemical action.

food web: A system of interlocking and interconnected food chains.

gyre: A system of circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by the Earth's rotation

influent: The water, wastewater or other liquid that flows into a reservoir, basin or treatment plant.

microplastics: Small particles of various types of plastic that measure less than 5 mm in diameter.

organic chemicals: A broad class of compounds that contain carbon. Smaller molecules of this class are primary components of ecological systems. Larger compounds are commonly used to create fuels, solvents, pesticides, plastics and many industrial processes.

pathogen: A disease-causing microorganism, including pathogenic bacteria, viruses, helminths and protozoans.

sedimentation: A water-treatment process during which floating wastes are skimmed off and settled solids are removed for disposal or recycling.

sludge: A thick, soft, wet mud or a similar viscous mixture of liquid and solid components, such as the product of a wastewater treatment, industrial or refining process.

trophic level: Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

valorization: To give a value to, especially a higher value.

wastewater treatment: When water used by cities or industry is sent through a series of tanks, screens, filters and other treatment actions during which pollutants are removed.

WRRRF: Acronym for water recycling and resource recovery facility. A centralized plant where water used by the people in cities or industrial processes is sent through a series of tanks, screens, filters and other treatment actions for the purpose of removing, valorizing and reusing materials.

Assessment
Post-Introduction Assessment
Make It Personal: After presenting the Introduction/Motivation content to the class, have students individually list plastic items that they dispose of daily. Then have them share their lists in small groups and discuss ways that their particular items are disposed of after use, followed by ideas for reuse and/or elimination, perhaps by coming up with ideas for alternatives to the plastic items. Especially think of single use items that will not decompose for hundreds of years (if ever). Example items might include ziplock bags, food wrappings, candy wrappers, straws, pull-tabs, plastic bottles, screw plastic bottle caps, wrappings from purchased products, shopping bags, jar lids, dental floss, toothbrushes, pens, packing materials, strapping tape, plastic-coated materials.
Lesson Summary Assessment or Homework
Writing Recap: Have students respond individually in writing to the following prompts. Review their answers to gauge their comprehension of the subject matter.

Describe three ways that your life may be different without the benefits of plastic.

What are some ways that microplastics may get into our bodies? (Example answer: Direct ingestion of microplastics-such as those in personal care products-and other byproducts that result from plastic exposure and degradation. Indirect ingestion of microplastics by eating seafood that bioaccumulated the plastics. Plastics like PVC used in plumbing and cling wrap gradually release hormone-disrupting bisphenols into our bodies over a lifetime of repeated exposure.)

How can microplastic pollution result from both ordinary plastic use and plastic disposal? (Example answer: Microplastics originate from cosmetic and cleanser products, washed clothing and eroding sponges-and you wash the microplastics down the drain into the urban water cycle. In addition, discarded larger plastic pieces become litter or landfill and eventually become microplastic pollution when they break down due to photodegradation, friction and microbes. In addition to air and water pollution from manufacturing plastic items, additional pollution is often generated from recycling them.)

Choose one plastic item that you typically use in a day and write about an alternate way that the item could be produced or packaged to eliminate or reduce its likelihood of becoming microplastic pollution.

Lesson Extension Activities

Assign groups to follow the resource links in the Additional Multimedia Support section and write summaries about the information sources, including the purpose of the online publication and possible biases.

Additional Multimedia Support

A quick introduction to the planetary problem of plastics (2:17 minutes): Science Today: Plastic Pollution | California Academy of Sciences (2:17 seconds) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=128&v=h-hn6w9t7ZM

A guest column about microbeads/plastics written by a high school student: "Beauty and the Beads" by Marcella Capuco, June 3, 2015, Water Online, at http://www.wateronline.com/doc/beauty-and-the-beads-0001

A high school-level scientific paper about microplastics in facial cleansers, "Contributing to Marine Pollution by Washing Your Face: Microplastics in Facial Cleansers" by Lisa S. Fenall and Mary A. Sewell, August 2009, Marine Pollution Bulletin, at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X09001799

International campaign against microplastic ingredients in cosmetics, supported by 38 countries: Beat the Micro Bead, at http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/science

Product lists by country of products that do and do not contain microplastic ingredients, Beat the Micro Bead, at http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/product-lists/

Reducing plastics in the ocean information, 5 Gyres Institute: Science to Solutions (nonprofit), at http://www.5gyres.org

"Crest Toothpaste Embeds Plastic in Our Gums," (a dental hygienist/mom's home experiment to find and try to dissolve the inert polyethylene particles in toothpaste that she finds when cleaning teeth) by Trish Walraven, Dental Buzz, March 4, 2014, at http://www.dentalbuzz.com/2014/03/04/crest-imbeds-plastic-in-our-gums/

Early microplastic in marine ecosystem research in "Lost at Sea: Where Is All the Plastic?" by Richard C. Thompson et al., in Science, May 7, 2004, at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/304/5672/838

Plastic in the environment in "Plastics, the Environment and Human Health: Current Consensus and Future Trends," by Richard C. Thompson et al., in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, June 14, 2009, at http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1526/2153

References

Browne, Mark A., Crump, Phillip, Niven, Stewart J., Teuten, Emma, Tonkin, Andrew, Galloway, Tamara, and Thompson, Richard. "Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Worldwide: Sources and Sinks," Environmental Science & Technology, 2011, 45(21), 9175-9179. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es201811s

Davis, Mackenzie L., and David A. Cornwell. Introduction to Environmental Engineering. 4th edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2008.

Inadera, Hidekuni. "Neurological Effects of Bisphenol A and Its Analogues." International Journal of Medical Sciences. 2015. 12(12), 926-936. http://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.13267

Teuten, Emma L., et al. "Transport and Release of Chemicals from Plastics to the Environment and to Wildlife." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. June 14, 2009. 364(1526), 2027-2045. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0284

Thompson, Richard C., Moore, Charles J., vom Saal, Frederick S., and Swan, Shanna H. "Plastics, the Environment and Human Health: Current Consensus and Future Trends." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. June 14, 2009. 364(1526). http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0053

U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "What are microplastics?" NOAA's National Ocean Service. April 13, 2016. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html

Woodford, Chris. "Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics." Last updated June 11, 2017. Explain That Stuff. http://www.explainthatstuff.com/bioplastics.html

Zettler, Erik R., Mincer, Tracy J., and Amaral-Zettler, Linda A. "Life in the 'Plastisphere': Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris." Environmental Science & Technology. 2013. 47(13), 7137−7146. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es401288x

Copyright © 2018 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2017 University of Kansas

Contributors David Bennett; Sara Hettenbach; William Welch

Supporting Program SHIFTED RET Program, University of Kansas Lawrence and Greenbush

Acknowledgements

This curriculum was based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under RET grant no. EEC 1301051-Shaping Inquiry from Feedstock to Tailpipe with Education Development (SHIFTED) through the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, hosted by the University of Kansas Lawrence and the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (referred to as Greenbush). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Special thanks to Belinda Sturm, Samik Bagchi, Robert Everhart and Rachel Bowes.

Last modified: July 3, 2019

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The Plastisphere: Plastic Migration and Its Impacts - Lesson

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Students are introduced to the growing worldwide environmental problems that stem from plastic waste. What they learn about microplastics and the typical components of the U.S. water treatment process prepares them to conduct three engaging associated activities. During the lesson, students become more aware of the pervasiveness and value of plastic as well as the downstream pollution and health dangers.

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Conduct a garbage bin audit to discover all the 'waste' that could be avoided, recycled or composted.

How you can do it

Whether at home, school or in your workplace, bin audits are a great way to understand waste you're creating and discover any confusion about the alternatives. For example, if your bin audit shows that family members, classmates or co-workers are putting cardboard in the landfill bin, you can check to see if there is a service for it to be recycled.
Getting Set up

If you're at work or school gather together a team of colleagues/classmates/teachers who are keen to conduct a bin audit. It's a much quicker and more fruitful process if conducted with a few people. Otherwise, at home, you can tackle the task by yourself or get the other members of your household involved.

Pick a day not long after your bins have just been emptied (you don't want to rummage through week-old waste). Make sure that you've given sufficient time for the bins to collect waste, but not too long that it's started to go putrid.

Find a location that's sheltered, has good airflow and is easy to clean. Make sure that the waste won't blow away in the wind, too.

Source some tarpaulin from a friend, neighbour, or colleague.

Optional: gather some buckets and scales to calculate the volume and weight of the waste you audit.

Draw a table so you can keep a record of the waste you find. You may find you just need two columns: Category of waste and weight/volume. However, it's always handy to prompt yourself to write the date, who helped with the audit, and what type of bin you were auditing (compost, general waste, recycling).

Find some gloves (preferably washable) so that your hands stay clean.

On the day

Gather your rubbish bin(s). Separate them by type (this may be: compost, recycling, general waste but it depends on the separation system in your home, school or workplace).

Start with one type of rubbish and empty it all onto the tarpaulin.

Separate the rubbish into piles. For example, you may separate the general waste bin into: batteries, paper, food, plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, soft plastic, cans, cardboard, glass.

Estimate the volume or percentage of waste in each pile (or accurately weigh if you have scales) and write this in your table.

If you have other bins, repeat this process with them, then clean up.

Taking the next steps

Once you've audited your bin, there's a lot of useful information that can come from it. Start by taking note of the "low hanging fruit"; in other works, things that you can change quickly and still make a big impact.

Focus on those one or two items and figure out how you can improve. It might be eliminating a certain item or product that ends up in your waste a lot, or sourcing a local recycling centre for items that can't go in the regular recycling bins.

Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based) goals to reduce each item found in your bin audit. Reflect on these goals on a regular basis, and conduct a bin audit every 6 or 12 months to track your progress.

The Impact

Reduce waste that needs collecting and reduce transport pollution.

Engage with family members or employees on their waste, helping them to share specific behaviours they can change.

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How to do a plastic waste bin audit - Plastic Free July

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Are you recycling, composting, or avoiding waste correctly?