Tiny plastics, big problems

(AP) — Kirsten Kapp wants people to think about where their trash goes, even the tiny pieces the human eye can barely spot.

Wastewater treatment facilities are incapable of filtering minuscule synthetic fibers and artificial particles that go down the drain.

[...] when someone, for instance, uses a face wash or toothpaste that contains plastic beads that are 5 millimeters or smaller, those microplastics end up in ocean and freshwater lakes and streams.

Something as simple as taking a shower or washing clothes made of polyester or nylon can affect the water where we swim, play and fish.

From picking up garbage left at Trail Creek Pond in Victor, Idaho, to collecting water samples from the Snake River that might contain microplastics, Kapp's students have learned an important lesson meant to change how they purchase bath and body products and how they dispose of trash.

Not only is the experience Kirsten offers an immense benefit to the students while they're at community college, it will also benefit them in the future.

The process they went through to gather the samples they now are looking at with Raman spectrometry — a technique that uses a high-tech microscope to shoot a laser beam of light to identify types of plastics — included several steps.

[...] few studies of freshwater have occurred in the U.S.

A 2015 scientific journal article, "Microplastics in Freshwater Systems: A Review of the Emerging Threats, Identification of Knowledge Gaps and Prioritisation of Research Needs," said early investigations suggest that the presence of microplastics in freshwater is equal to what is observed in marine systems.

According to the article, "Microplastics have been found in North America in the Los Angeles Basin, the North Shore Channel of Chicago, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes."

Kapp brought several Atlantic herring back to Jackson to give her research assistants and volunteer students the chance to learn about dissection and to look for microplastics in the fishes' digestive systems.

[...] she thinks anyone can see significance of her former teacher's studies, which is why she is glad Kapp teaches about microplastics in the classroom in addition to working with student research assistants and volunteers.

Kapp's general biology and environmental science classes have been to places such as Trail Creek Pond to collect and count trash that could potentially break down to pieces of plastic that are 5 millimeters or smaller.

The students who went to Trail Creek Pond were asked to show their findings and to come up with solutions for reducing the amount of trash at the fishing spot.