Environmental Information Center Plastic detoxification
On September 25, China's Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency announced the first survey results of the island's plastic particle content, including seawater, tap water, beaches and shellfish, most of the samples contain plastic particles.
The plastic detected in tap water is fibrous, 0 to 6 per liter, which is much lower than the amount of bottled water detected;
The number of microplastics in seawater ranges from 1,000 to 18,500 per 1,000 litres;
Beach gravel is 26 to 2400 per kilogram;
Farmed and wild shellfish range from 0.2 to 5.2 per gram.
Pictured: Bundled plastic fibers in scallops under a microscope.
Provided by the EPD Environmental Inspection Institute.
The results show that the materials of these miniature plastics are mainly PP, PE and PS, and the sources are mostly common plastic products, such as baote bottles, plastic bags, bottle caps, straws, plastic beverage cups and various man-made fiber products that stay in the environment for thousands of years after cracking, and the EPD reminds that it is still necessary to reduce the amount of plastic waste from the source.
These plastic particles may pass through the food chain and eventually return to the human body, but the actual health risk assessment and safety tolerance standards have not yet been specifically studied in countries around the world.
In recent years, the problem of plastic particle pollution has received international attention, and more studies have pointed out that pollution is not only in the marine environment, but also in fresh water, land, and even in the North and South Poles of many countries. In September 2017, a non-profit orb Media survey reported that 83% of 159 tap water samples from more than 10 countries around the world detected plastic particles.
These plastic particles, which are less than 5 mm in size, are rapidly ingested by organisms, so they are more harmful to organisms than large plastic fragments, and scientists have found that microplastics have formed a "plastic biosphere" - an emerging biotype.
From December 2017 to July this year, the EPD surveyed the contents of plastic particles in 89 water purification farms, seven breeding areas and two bathing beaches in Taiwan. Deputy Director of the EPD, Zhan Shungui, said that the survey is to collect background information and use it as a reference for future policy formulation, and if necessary, the EPD may conduct the next wave of investigation.
In February this year, the EPD collaborated with the civil society group "Marine Waste Control Platform" to publish the "Marine Debris Control Action Plan", which listed the investigation of the current status of plastic particle pollution as a priority project, and the Environmental Inspection Institute is responsible for it.
Pictured: Plastic particles in samples detected by personnel at the Ring Inspection Institute.
Photo by Lai Pinyu.
Tap water has 0 to 6 fibers per liter, but is much lower than bottled water
Yang Xinan, head of the Environmental Inspection Institute of the Environmental Protection Agency, said that in the tap water part, a total of 100 clean water and 23 raw water samples were made, and from the results, the concentration was not far from the international level, and the plastic particles in it were mainly fibrous, and PET, Nylon, and PE accounted for 85% of the top three ingredients.
Of the 100 clean water samples of tap water, 44 plastic particles were detected, with 0 to 6 fibers per liter, and 14 of the 23 pieces of raw water were detected, with an average of 0 to 8 plastic fibers per liter. Wu Zhenrong, deputy general manager of Taiwan Water Company, said that such values are not only lower than the international literature, but also far lower than bottled water, so it is recommended that the public use tap water as much as possible and reduce the packaging of bottled water as a source of pollution. Beishui Company also stressed that it has recently set up water dispensers and installed guidance signs in the Greater Taipei area to encourage the public to install more tap water and use less bottled water.
In March this year, Orb Media issued a survey at the State University of New York at Fredonia, pointing out that as many as 93% of the world's more than ten brands of bottled water have plastic particles, and even one liter contains tens of thousands of capsules.
Figure: The sampler used for ring inspection. Photo by Lai Pinyu.
Mussels, oysters, scallops, and clams all contain particles, and wild oysters are higher than farmed
In seven shellfish farming areas, 2 beaches for marine environment sampling, the seawater part, it shows that there are foaming, film, particles, fragments, fiber patterns, the color is more diverse, the material PP, PE, PS is the mainstay, accounting for 77.6%, the same as the international. The sand beach grit showed that there was no difference in the number and composition of plastic particles contained in different depths, mainly PE, PP and PS accounted for 74.7%.
In the investigation of culture and wild shellfish, plastic particles were found in mussels, oysters, scallops and clams, 1.2 to 2 mussels per gram, 0.7 to 5.2 oysters per gram, 0.2 to 3.5 mussels, 3.1 scallops per gram, and 0.2 clams per gram. Because shellfish are eaten in the same way as filter feeding, the plastic particles containing plastic are mainly fibrous, and the materials are PP, PE, PET, and Nylon, accounting for 92.7%.
This value is about the middle low compared to the average of the scientific literature. Yang Xinan pointed out that the data show that the content of shellfish farmed in Chinese mainland is 1 gram containing 2.1 to 10.5 pieces; the European mussel Belgian gram is 0.26 to 0.51 pieces, the German 0.36 pieces, and the North Sea is 0.2 to 0.3 pieces. There are also 0.47 plastic particles per gram of french farmed oysters.
In the face of the question of whether shellfish containing plastic particles should also be eaten, Yang Xinan said that at present, the United Nations said that because these shellfish are rich in nutrients, it is still recommended to eat, but it is true that countries have not completed the relevant health risk assessment, and the extent of the impact of food intake on health is still unknown.
Source: Environmental Information Center
Editor-in-Charge: Pan Qing'an