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Resources | Plastic Pollution
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Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes
The emerging issue of Great Lakes plastic pollution is a threat to the ecological and economic health and stability of the Great Lakes. Plastic debris has the capacity to adversely affect aquatic environments in a variety of ways that directly affects socio-economic and environmental interests. It is a problem on local shorelines that directly affects both municipalities and the general public.
Information on the extent of the issue in marine environments is well documented and researched, while freshwater environments have received less attention, and is often underestimated. However, research on Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie has proposed that plastic concentrations observed exceed data collected in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A study from the Rochester Institute of Technology, found that nearly 22 million pounds of plastic pollution enter the Great Lakes yearly! Recognized as a significant resource for both American and Canadian interests, the health of the Great Lakes is important for a variety of social, economic, and environmental factors.
Plastic Pollution in Lake Huron
Plastic pollution has been identified as an emerging issue on Lake Huron, first through data from beach cleanups, second from incidences of plastic pellet spills, and third, from research on open lake pollution by plastic.
Research is limited on plastic pollution on Lake Huron, although it has increased over the past several years. Studies have been done identifying plastic debris and microplastics across Lake Huron. This includes microplastics found in sediment at the bottom of the lake, even buried deep below the sediment-water interface. Microfibers seemingly from denim were identified in both sediments and ingested by rainbow smelt, a type of small fish native for Lake Huron. Researchers also found that some of the highest concentrations of plastic debris on beaches was on the Lake Huron shoreline. Although the shores of Lake Huron have some of the highest levels of plastic pollution, Lake Huron also contains some of the most pristine beaches. Plastic pollution on the Lake Huron shoreline is not evenly distributed. Let's keep our beaches beautiful!
Recognizing there is limited knowledge on plastic pollution in Lake Huron, a study team from Western University prepared this report for the Coastal Centre on ‘Assessing and Mitigating Plastic Pollution in Lake Huron.’ Although this report was prepared in 2013, a lot of the information is still relevant. This report considers potential impacts of plastic pollution on aquatic and terrestrial wildlife in and around Lake Huron, and ideas have been proposed to best engage municipalities and the public along with best practices towards addressing freshwater plastic pollution.
There have been great strides made in plastic and microplastic pollution research in freshwater environments, however there is still lots to learn, especially when it comes to toxicity of plastic and microplastic pollution. Researchers are still working to understand the ecological risk of plastic and microplastic pollution in Lake Huron, as well as the risk to human health through drinking water, recreation, or fish consumption.
Microplastics
Plastic debris that measures less than 5 mm in length is called "microplastic". Microplastics can vary in colour and shape depending on their origin and the type of microplastic they are. The majority of microplastics are the result of materials that have broken down into smaller and smaller pieces mechanically through sun exposure and wave action.
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In 2018, LHCC ran the Microplastic Awareness Project, in which water samples were collected from different locations in Lake Huron to test for microplastics. 91% of samples collected contained microplastics, with microfibers most commonly found.
Preventing Plastic Pollution
There are two types of plastic pollution prevention, active, and passive.
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Active plastic pollution prevention includes boots on the ground work like beach and shoreline clean-ups. ​Beach and shoreline clean-ups remove plastic waste and are inexpensive, however, they are time consuming to do and require constant vigilance.
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Passive plastic pollution prevention includes installation of devices like trash traps or beach clean-up stations to allow for mitigation of plastic pollution without the time investment of beach clean-ups. One example of this are Litta Traps, which are installed in stormwater drains to capture debris.
Unfortunately, plastic pollution is often very hard to remove once in smaller forms such as microplastics. Therefore, the best way to reduce this form of pollution is to reduce the amount of single-use plastic items used daily, and increasing waste management and recycling schemes. The most effective way to reduce plastic pollution is through systemic change which would include reducing plastic use in the whole Great Lakes watershed and moving towards a sustainable circular economy.