Scribd
Upload
27 views5 pages

Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores ئطاوشلا ددهي "يرهجملا كتسلابلا" مكارت

- A study found that microscopic plastic fibers from synthetic clothes are accumulating in the marine environment and may be entering the food chain. Researchers traced these "microplastics" back to clothes washing, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibers per garment wash. - In order to determine how widespread microplastics are on shorelines, researchers took samples from 18 beaches around the world, finding plastic pieces in all samples. The smallest plastic fibers could cause major problems if ingested by wildlife. - The study suggests that wastewater treatment plants may be a major source of microplastic pollution, as higher concentrations were found near urban areas. More research is needed to test this hypothesis.

Uploaded by

Sayed Mohamed
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
27 views5 pages

Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores ئطاوشلا ددهي "يرهجملا كتسلابلا" مكارت

- A study found that microscopic plastic fibers from synthetic clothes are accumulating in the marine environment and may be entering the food chain. Researchers traced these "microplastics" back to clothes washing, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibers per garment wash. - In order to determine how widespread microplastics are on shorelines, researchers took samples from 18 beaches around the world, finding plastic pieces in all samples. The smallest plastic fibers could cause major problems if ingested by wildlife. - The study suggests that wastewater treatment plants may be a major source of microplastic pollution, as higher concentrations were found near urban areas. More research is needed to test this hypothesis.

Uploaded by

Sayed Mohamed
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Environment

Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to


shores
Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores
By Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News
Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is
accumulating in the marine environment and could
be entering the food chain, a study has warned.
Researchers traced the "microplastic" back to
synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny
fibres per garment every time they were washed.
Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm

" "
" "

. " :
" .
" "

.
" "
1.900
.
1
.

were being eaten by animals and getting into the


food chain.
The findings appeared in the journal
Environmental Science and Technology.
"Research we had done before... showed that
when we looked at all the bits of plastic in the
environment, about 80% was made up from
smaller bits of plastic," said co-author Mark


.)Environmental Science and Technology(

... "

%00
."
" :
".

Browne, an ecologist now based at the University


of California, Santa Barbara.
"This really led us to the idea of what sorts of
plastic are there and where did they come from."
Dr Browne, a member of the US-based research
network National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis, said the tiny plastic was a concern
because evidence showed that it was making its
way into the food chain.
"Once the plastics had been eaten, it transferred





.
"
} {
."
10

.

from [the animals'] stomachs to their circulation


system and actually accumulated in their cells," he
told BBC News.

"
."

.

In order to identify how widespread the presence


of microplastic was on shorelines, the team took
samples from 18 beaches around the globe,
including the UK, India and Singapore.
"We found that there was no sample from around

." " :
"
)polyester(
)polyamides( )acrylic(
. "

the world that did not contain pieces of


microplastic."
The smallest fibres could end up causing huge
problems worldwide
Dr Browne added: "Most of the plastic seemed to
be fibrous.
"When we looked at the different types of
polymers we were finding, we were finding that


.
" "


.
" :
"
.

polyester, acrylic and polyamides (nylon) were the


major ones that we were finding."
The data also showed that the concentration of
microplastic was greatest in areas near large
urban centres.
In order to test the idea that sewerage discharges
were the source of the plastic discharges, the team
worked with a local authority in New South Wales,
Australia.




.
" :
1.900
."
. "

."

"We found exactly the same proportion of

":

to conclude that their suspicions had been correct.
."
plastics," Dr Browne revealed, which led the team

As a result, Dr Browne his colleague Professor


Richard Thompson from the University of
Plymouth, UK carried out a number of experiments
to see what fibres were contained in the water
discharge from washing machines.

...

"We were quite surprised. Some polyester


garments released more than 1,900 fibres per
garment, per wash," Dr Browne observed.
"It may not sound like an awful lot, but if that is
from a single item from a single wash, it shows
how things can build up.
"It suggests to us that a large proportion of the
fibres we were finding in the environment, in the
strongest evidence yet, was derived from the
sewerage as a consequence from washing
clothes."

The Struggle for Women's Rights


Continues in the Congo
Odunola Ojewumi is a student at Howard
University. She is serving as List Management
Intern at Population Action International for the

.

.2009

Spring 2009 semester.


/

On February 21st, I attended a meeting sponsored .

by Friends of The Congo. "It is our call to action to
." "
save the Congo" stood as the message and slogan


for this conference. The meeting offered a great


amount of information about the devastating
.
tragedy in the Congo. There were four key
speakers including a Congolese speaker who fled
from the violence there.
Nearly six million Congolese have been killed in
this genocide yet the average American knows
nothing of their struggle. We viewed a slide show
of the organization's last expedition to the Congo
refugee camps. A large percentage of the refugee
camps they visited were heavily populated by
women and children. Each photograph told a story
of hardship. One picture truly stood out for me. It


.

.
.

.

.

.

was a picture of a home for a family of five, made


of wood and twigs which truly re-defined the term
"singe family home." This conference made me reevaluate my priorities and examine the effects of


.


.

war on the innocent.



.
The conference also included the perspectives of

Congolese women. Rape has been used against


women as an instrument of war in the Congo.

Many women are raped with blunt objects, sticks,



and machetes. The women are scarred physically

and emotionally, and many must have surgical


operations to repair their reproductive organs from




the damage. Friends of the Congo is currently

raising money to fund these surgeries.




Attending this meeting opened my eyes to the fact



that the struggle for women's rights is still very

much alive. Friends of the Congo's work in the

international community shows the spirit of

International Women's Day--men and women


unifying to advocate for the rights of women. This
day celebrates the lives of women, who have
overcome insurmountable struggles and highlights
causes that promote reproductive health rights,
and condemns sexual violence against women and
children.
Congo is the one of the world's largest producers
of coltan, or columbite-tantalite, a material found
in almost all of our cell phones, laptops, video
cameras, Bluetooth and other devices. Congolese
mine workers are so underpaid that they can
barely feed their families. The average annual
income for a Congolese family is $800 and $100
for an individual person.
As the conference came to an end, I learned as a
consumer it is my obligation to protect the people
of the Congo. We use the products they help

...

.



.

-

!

voice for the women of Congo shall not be silenced

on the eve of International Women's Day. The
.
produce yet this issue remains a silent issue. The

Friends of The Congo have set up fundraiser

.
:
.www.friendsofthecongo.org

...

events in Maryland and D.C. For more information


visit their web site at:
http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/

...

You might also like