MICROPLASTICS IN OUR WATERWAYS, THE FISH WE EAT, IN OUR BLOOD AND REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS

Hawaiʻi is a remote archipelago, not visited by outside nations until 1788. But along with all Pacific archipelagoes, since the wide use of plastics began in the 20th century, increasing amounts and varieties of plastics have entered our waters and air, conveyed by ocean currents, the winds, and discharges from land. Microplastics, fragments of any kind of plastic less than 0.5 mm in length enter our ecosystem from clothing fibers, cosmetics, packaging, and degrading of items such a plastic straws. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch lodges plastics along the entire 2,400 km length of the State. They are now found in our Hawaiian sands and soils, in the air, in our fresh and salt water, in our food and bodies.

Rey et al (2021) report that island beaches tend to have higher concentrations than continental beaches. On islands, they pose a threat to invertebrates that are the base of the food chain for marine organism. Microplastics are found all along the marine aquatic food chain, concentrating as they move up to the large ocean predators: tunas, swordfish, mahimahi. The impact of microplastics is especially important in the Pacific where fish are the major source of protein for islanders who live sustainably.

Weingrill et al (2023) found microplastics in placentas of women who gave birth in Hawaiʻi. Tests on ten placentas collected in 2006 showed that 60% had microplastics, in 2013 90% contained microplastics, in 2021 100% contained microplastics. They also found the types of plastics are changing. Recent research show microplastics in cord blood. Zhao et al (2023) found them in human testis and semen. As the impact on human health is only beginning to be studied, a key to reduced plastic exposure is lifestyle changes: cooking in metal pans, microwaving and baking in ceramic and glass containers, avoiding use of plastic utensils and straws.

In Hawaiʻi and American Samoa we are educating our youth via experiential learning activities: plankton tows that catch microplastics along with planktonic animals, and beach activities to determine microplastics in sand. Students will share data across sites and communicate their findings at community events, speak before legislative bodies. But until policies for plastics change, plastics will continue to enter our waterways from multiple source and islanders will try to alter their lifestyles to reduce ingestion and generation of microplastics.