Blog Post Week 2

1. Problem or observation:  Increasing amount of microplastics debris in both marine and freshwater systems has become an emerging issue affecting aquatic life.
2. Research question: Is there a way to dissect microplastics from the seven known plastics?
3. 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 in face scrubs

• Also used to deliver drugs in some medical applications, Fiber that shed from synthetic clothing and rope are microplastics.

• Though the impact of microplastics on wildlife is not very well understood, various of organisms both vertebrates and invertebrates have been found to digest microplastics.
• Scientist are concerned that organisms ingesting plastics debris may be exposed contaminants sorbed to the plastics
• Plastic Debris provides a sink and a source for chemical contaminants.

Hypothesis:

The amount of microplastics will differentiate depending of where water is collected.

5 Scholarly sources:

Masura, J., Baker, J., Foster, G., & Arthur, C. (2015, June ). Laboratory Methods for the Analysis of Micro-plastics in the Marine Environmentarine En. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from NOAA Microplastics methods manual, https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/publications-files/noaa_microplastics_methods_manual.pdf

Oceanic, N., & Administration, A. (2016, April 13). What are microplastics? Retrieved February 21, 2017, from What are micro-plastics? - National Ocean Service - NOAA, http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html

Programme, U. N. E. (2003). About the UNEP year book. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from Micro- plastics Brochure - UNEP, http://www.unep.org/yearbook/microplastics.asp

Microplastics, I., & Reserved, A. R. (2010). Microplastics Inc. - insert molded filters engineered for quality. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from Micro-plastics Inc. - Insert Molding Engineered for Quality, http://www.microplasticsinc.com/filters.php

USGS Science for a changing world. (2016, March 16). Microplastics in our nations’s waterways. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from Micro- plastics in our Nation’s Waterways, https://owi.usgs.gov/vizlab/microplastics/