And plastic waste that left the normal collection and waste management system; or that was thrown into the environment, begins to undergo a wear process. With the passage of time it disintegrates, losing small particles and begins a journey that passes while the life of the person who threw it happens, silently.
Es It is common for this lost plastic, sometimes imperceptible, to pass from cities to the seas and from there to the oceans; aggravating a problem that is a deep current debate in the scientific community: marine plastic pollution in the oceans.
“They can reach the sea as small particles, like a large piece of plastic, or it can be a lost plastic item, like a sand toy that was lost on a tourist beach.Andrés Arias, doctor in Biological Sciences and researcher at the Argentine Institute of Oceanography (IADO-Conicet), professor at the National University of the South, and member of GESAMP-PNUMA, a group of scientists that advises the United Nations, explained to Diario RIO NEGRO .
Reduce plastic production and increase the recycling rate, some solutions.
Los plastics, like a bottle abandoned on the coast, may have been traveling for years and from very far away, in a transport process through different mechanisms such as wind, rain and storms, atmospheric layers or simply through aquatic courses, such as rivers that discharge into the sea.
In this journey, rivers play a role as large “transport chains of plastics to the oceans,” Pablo Macchi, doctor in Natural Sciences and Rio Negro researcher, stated in an interview with this medium.
When it was already believed that there is nothing more harmful to contaminate the Negro River in the region, it is necessary to warn that the problem does not end in the 600 kilometers of fresh water: reaches the Atlantic Ocean causing irreversible impact and mortality to marine life and maritime communities, and indirectly to humans.
The Negro River does not escape the problem. “It is impacted by plastics and ends up being a vector of plastics in the Atlantic Ocean.”
Andrés Arias, researcher at the Argentine Institute of Oceanography (IADO-Conicet)
“The current plastic content in the oceans is estimated between 75 and 199 million tons, 80% of which comes from land sources due to poor urban solid waste disposal management, it is estimated that up to a third of managed plastic waste is reaching the oceans, with the main contribution from localized cities. up to 50 kilometers from the coast.” This is what a study prepared by Arias and other authors says. “The impact of plastic rights and micro plastics on the Buenos Aires coast”published in 2020.
“The Río Negro, like all rivers and like all terrestrial aquatic bodies, does not escape the problem. It is impacted by plastics and ends up being a vector of plastics in the Atlantic Ocean,” Arias confirmed. He explained that it is a river that has human and social activity on its banks, cities, and treatment plants. “There is an influx of urban wastewater and all of that is what generates the influx of plastics and microplastics into the waters and then into the oceans,” he added.
He biologist is the author of the group work “Plastics and Microplastics in the ocean” y He said that the ways in which this plastic waste reaches the ocean from the continent are varied, depending on the size.
““One of the main generators of plastic microfibers is washing clothes.”commented the Conicet scientist. It is estimated that this daily activity contributes 63.1% of the contributions of plastic to aquatic bodies. Clothing is made from synthetic fabrics such as polyester, which shed fibers during washing.
“Those plastic micro fibers are going through the water and that water goes normally, in the best of cases, to a treatment plant. That ends in aquatic bodies,” commented Arias and referred to rivers, seas and lakes, depending on the cities.
The tire abrasion 28.3% and in third place with 24.2%, urban dust. “Personal care products only represent 2% of the contribution of primary microplastics to the global ocean,” the research states.
in his studioit is ensured that the current generation of secondary microplastics in the oceancould be the result of the degradation of objects produced in the 90s or earlier.
Latin America and the Caribbean contributes 8.3 million tons of plastic waste to the ocean. It is in third place after Asia and Africa. 2.7 million tons of plastic waste are generated per day in Argentina. It is estimated 183 grams per person per day.
In any case, not all plastics go into the sea, but the greatest amount of pollution Plastic in terms of mass and concentration is generated in the soils, in the continents, because that is where human activity is most based.
Marine fauna at risk and exposed humans
“Fauna interacts with plastics in the oceans in a thousand ways“said Andrés Arias, doctor in Biology from Conicet. Large species such as cetaceans can swallow large pieces of plastic, ingest, drown or become entangled in deep-sea fishing nets. With micro plastics – which range from one micron to 5 millimeters – there are marine organisms of that scale such as phyto and zooplankton, Antarctic krill that can get trapped or can be prey, eat the plastic particles and in turn fragment even further, converting them. in nano plastics, according to the scientist.
““In this entire process there is damage to the biological structure.”he said and added that plastics have other chemicals attached, toxic and carcinogenic organic compounds that can be released from the plastic.
“There is a double effect which is the physical effect of trapping or being ingested; or the chemical effect of the release of chemical components. (…) This occurs at all size scales of biological species“Arias emphasized.
In plastic packaging -approximately 40% of the total annual production of plastics in the world– A variety of 906 chemical compounds have been identified, as cited in the 2020 study, published in the National Academy of Science Book.
“The fundamental problem with any plastic element or waste stranded on beachesis that by being exposed to UV radiation for a long time, and other environmental factors, they become a source of generation of microplastics, which implies an even greater pollution problem, since it also increases the size spectrum of marine and coastal organisms. that can interact with waste of this material,” expressed the authors in the collective research.
“Man (human being) is exposed via marine diet. If we don’t talk about the sea and talk about other foods, “It is exposed through food (…) and through inhalation,” he explained, due to the containers, packaging of different foods and particles in the air.
It is estimated that one person incorporates around 45,000 plastic particles per year in ingestion and inhalation, which gives approximately 250 grams of plastics per year, 4.6 grams per week.
Preliminary studies in the Negro River: five points
Los Studies conducted by researchers demonstrate the existence of microfibers in surface water at least in five points at the mouth of the Negro River.
“The highest concentration of these particles was found in the town of El Cóndor (1.63 particles/m3) while the lowest was evident at the mouth (0.71 particles/m3). The most abundant plastic microfibers were 1-2 mm and the most prevalent color was black,” they stated in the article.
This results preliminary findings reveal the impact of plastic garbage in the lower basin of the Negro River and the need to continue delving into this research to improve the management of plastic waste.