Blog Post Week 2
Problem or observation: Increasing amount of microplastics debris in both marine and freshwater systems has become an emerging issue affecting aquatic life. Research question: Is there a way to dissect microplastics from the seven known plastics? Background information: Micro Plastics are plastics particles smaller than 5.0 mm in size. There are two main ways microplastics are formed and enter the body of water: primary and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics consist of manufactured raw plastic material; virgin plastic pellets, scrubbers, and microbeads that enter the ocean via runoff from land. Secondary microplastic occur when larger plastics items enter a beach or ocean and undergo mechanical, photo and/ or biological degradation. The degradation breaks larger pieces into progressively smaller plastic fragments which eventually become undetectable to the naked eye. Microplastics have many use; personal care product such as exfoliants...