{"id":13434,"date":"2017-04-25T16:59:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T20:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=13434"},"modified":"2017-04-25T16:59:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T20:59:16","slug":"tracking-tiny-bits-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2017\/04\/25\/tracking-tiny-bits-plastic\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking tiny bits of plastic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TamaraGalloway\"<\/a>
Tamara Galloway, University of Exeter, presents her research on marine microplastics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UK scientist details\u00a0marine pollution impact on food web<\/h2>\n

The evidence of our throwaway society spreads from coastal beaches and waterways to the North Pacific Ocean garbage patch and down to the sediment of the world\u2019s ocean floors.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic pollution is such an ubiquitous problem, we don\u2019t see it or consider it as pollution,\u201d observed ecotoxicology Professor Tamara Galloway<\/a>, speaking to Ocean State scientists gathered April 12 for the Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR 2017 Annual Research Symposium. \u201cWhy is that? What do we need to know to take plastic pollution seriously or do we even need to take it seriously?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"GeoffBothun\"<\/a>
Geoffrey Bothun, URI, Rhode Island EPSCoR principal investigator and program director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Exeter<\/a>, UK, researcher launched her guest talk at the event, co-hosted by Brown University<\/a> and Rhode Island School of Design<\/a>, with these questions and recounted an effort with colleagues and volunteers to gauge the scope of the problem at a local beach. The group collected all visible plastic on a 25-meter stretch of Tregantle Beach, which sits on the western end of South East Cornwall\u2019s Whitsand Bay.<\/span><\/p>\n

On that one piece of beach, on one day in July 2014, Galloway said, the group collected 567,664 plastic items: \u201cIf you put numbers to the problem, then you can start to take it seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JackReed\"<\/a>
RI Senator Jack Reed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0About 10 percent of all discarded plastic reaches the sea, totalling 10 million tons, with a shelf life of hundreds of years, noted Galloway, and causing the death or maiming of one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. The record amount ingested by one bird stands at 84 pieces, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). <\/span><\/p>\n

\"JimLangevin\"<\/a>
RI Representative Jim Langevin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tinier bits of plastic measuring less than five millimeters in diameter, float by\u00a0unseen, but Galloway and others are studying just how lethal they may be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DavidCicilline\"<\/a>
RI Representative David Cicilline<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gut reaction: The microplastic journey<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy we\u2019re worried about microplastics is that they start to overlap with the size of prey,\u201d Galloway\u00a0noted. \u201cMany marine animals \u2014\u00a0filter feeders \u2014 at the base of the food web are ingesting pieces of plastic and passing it up the food web.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This data suggests that plastic ingested by bivalves destined for the dinner plate means the typical human eating an average 100 grams of shellfish will consume 50 tiny pieces of plastic. For the regular consumer, that equals about 11,000 pieces in the course of a year. Galloway also studied what happened when crabs were fed mussels that had ingested microplastics to better understand the trophic transfer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were expecting to see that the plastic might end up in the crab, but the plastic ended up staying in the gut of the crab up to 14 days later,\u201d she said. \u201cPlastics were in the gut and still being excreted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This led to the question of why the plastic remained in the gut for such a long period of time. Galloway said the research found that the plastic became embedded in the crab\u2019s foregut setae and adhered to its gill lamellae as well. Other research investigated what happens from sediment to surface, looking at species like the common blood worm, living on the ocean floor, and plankton, floating in the water column. Even tiny oyster larvae ingest plastic nanoparticles \u2014 the smaller the better \u2014\u00a0until 28 days old, when they turn to larger pieces.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is evidence from a range of different species that plastic is being ingested and stays (in the body) for a long period of time,\u201d she said, raising serious follow-up questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do plastics alter faecal pellets, making them more buoyant? Does that lead to altered carbon cycling? Do microplastics sink? Is there enough plastic in the ocean to make a difference? To help resolve these and other issues, Galloway said researchers were working to identify whether contamination hotspots existed, using particle tracking models to determine how currents might move a piece of plastic dropped in the water.<\/p>\n

Future work will look at the food chain, Galloway added: \u201cIs there any consequence for us? Do we want to be eating seafood with plastic in it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Shifting from the dire outlook, Galloway said she wanted to end her talk on a more hopeful note. She pointed to oil spills as an example, comparing how they were handled in the 1970s to now with increased awareness, attention and vigilance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is concerted action, policy change is possible,\u201d said Galloway. \u201cAnd hopefully, this kind of science can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

2017 Annual Research Symposium:\u00a0A showcase of Ocean State\u00a0research, facilities<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The daily catch:\u00a0Marine debris & beach trash in Rhode Island<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Arctic Ocean accumulation:\u00a0A\u00a0dead end for floating plastic<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

In addition to Galloway’s afternoon talk, the daylong event<\/a>\u00a0showcased a poster presentation of RI EPSCoR- related research and tours of RI EPSCoR-supported and core facilities \u2014\u00a0the Nature Lab<\/a> at RISD, and the Center for Computation and Visualization<\/a> (CCV) and NSF\/EPSCoR Shared Proteomics <\/a>Facility<\/a> at Brown.<\/p>\n

Members of Rhode Island\u2019s congressional delegation \u2014\u00a0Sen. Jack Reed, Rep. Jim Langevin and Rep. David Cicilline \u2014\u00a0joined\u00a0a\u00a0luncheon at Brown University\u2019s Alumnae Hall and shared\u00a0welcoming remarks. The legislators highlighted the importance of scientific research both statewide and nationally, and said they would continue to lend their vigorous support to the discovery process. Unable to attend, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was represented by Director of Community Affairs Aida Crosson.<\/p>\n

Story by Amy Dunkle|Photos by Michael Salerno<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"DavidSavitz\"<\/a>
Brown University Vice President for Research David Savitz addresses the symposium audience. Savitz co-chairs the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) with URI Vice President for Research and Economic Development Gerald Sonnenfeld.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"EdHawrot\"<\/a>
Associate Dean for Biology Edward Hawrot, Brown University,\u00a0welcomes attendees\u00a0at the Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR 2017 Annual Research Symposium. Hawrot serves as a co-principal investigator on the RI EPSCoR grant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK scientist details\u00a0marine pollution impact on food web The evidence of our throwaway society spreads from coastal beaches and waterways to the North Pacific Ocean garbage patch and down to the sediment of the world\u2019s ocean floors. \u201cPlastic pollution is such an ubiquitous problem, we don\u2019t see it or consider it as pollution,\u201d observed ecotoxicology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}