Environmental Pollutants: Microplastics in South Florida

Microplastics in South Florida
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Microplastics in South Florida
A known pollutant in South Florida is microplastics. The term microplastics describe various tiny plastic granules that are either sold as they are for domestic and industrial use or are derived as fragments from the larger plastics (Cole et al., 2011). The emergence of microplastics as one of the common ocean pollutants came to the fore in the 1970s. Since then, the potential harm that results from the pollutants has been adequately researched. The significance of microplastics as a pollutant stem from the relatively long time that it takes for the microplastics to be broken down. In addition, they pose a large threat to the affected ecosystem given the challenges that may plague any efforts intended to remove them from the ecosystem.
The most affected ecosystem type in South Florida is the marine environment. Specifically, A study conducted by Badylak et al. (2021) showed that microplastics are one of the most concerning pollutants in the Biscayne Bay and Florida bay ecosystems. The study findings showed that the coastal lagoons in the two bays are populated with microplastic particles that are smaller than 200 µ. Concentrations of the reported microplastics were at 10,000 to 20,000 particles for every liter. Notably, such a high concentration of microplastics increases the likelihood that they could be confused for planktons by some organisms in the marine environment.
Microplastics are mainly observed in the form of polystyrene particles. The particles mainly come from construction materials, food containers, fishing gears, and medical equipment, among other sources that use polystyrene as a material. The pollutant is mainly generated following the degradation of large forms of plastics that are introduced into the marine environment through human activities (Wang et al., 2016). Other potential ways through which microplastics are introduced to the marine ecosystem are the effluent discharges that come from the...