Lingering in Lake Erie are millions of tiny pieces of plastics loaded with toxic pollutants, a new study finds. The results are part of the first study to look at the distribution and possible effects of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes.
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The results don’t surprise Joel Baker, science director of the Center for Urban Waters at the University of Washington Tacoma. Plastic debris “is everywhere,” he says.
Lorena Rios Mendoza of the University of Wisconsin-Superior and her colleagues combed the Great Lakes’ waters for microplastics — pieces up to 5 millimeters across, or about as big as a BB gun pellet. When bigger pieces of plastic trash get battered by waves and baked by the sun, they break down into tiny bits. The researchers found that these microplastics make up about 80 percent of total plastic samples collected in Lake Erie.