By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
The New York-New Jersey Harbor is full of millions of plastic particles, that according to the latest New York-New Jersey Baykeeper report.
“There are about 165 million plastic particles floating at any given time in the estuary,” said Communications Associate Sandra Meola.
The nonprofit, which focuses on water quality issues from as far north as the Tappan Zee Bridge to Sandy Hook Bay, collected samples from March through August of 2015.
“Prior to World War II we were using glass and stainless steel. We weren’t using these single use materials,” Meola said.
Like plastic water bottles, utensils and grocery bags.
“After World War II, plastic manufacturing exploded and we become obsessed with this lifestyle of ease and mobility,” Meola said.
How do millions of plastic particles end up in the water? Factors like improper waste management practices, littering and stormwater runoff, says Meola.
“When there’s a heavy rainfall event, the plastics on the street go down the drain into the sewer system. They’re picked up by maybe a little trickle of water, trickle of water turns into the river, turns into the bay, turns into the ocean,” she said.
Animals can eat the plastic particles. Ultimately we can too, insists Field Tech Mitch Mickley.
“Plastics are photodegradable, they break down into infinitely smaller pieces, and research is starting to show plastics are ending up in seafood that we’re eating,” he said.
The nonprofit used a manta trawl net. It’s designed to collect material that floats on the surface of the water. They collected 18 different samples from various locations throughout the New York-New Jersey Harbor.
The team then took the samples back to the lab at Rutgers University.
“We use an oxidation process where we use sulfuric acid and we essentially oxidize all the organic material. We’re left with the plastics,” Meola said.
About 85 percent of the particles counted were microplastics.
“Microplastics are any plastic particles that are less then 5 millimeters — about the size of a grain of rice,” Meola said.
New York-New Jersey Baykeeper will collect samples again this spring.