Hello Folks!

As promised in 2 posts earlier, you will uncover the truth behind your actual plastic consumption on a daily basis in this post – but wait? Plastics?? PLASTICS?!

YES! I’m talking about Plastics – the very same material used for your plastic bags and bottles.

Figure 1: Plastic Bags for Dinner? (Serrgey, 2020)

Previously, we talked about the existence of microplastics in ocean and how they make its way onto our dinner plate via bioaccumulation and bioamplification. But here, we are talking about the direct ingestion of microplastics. Cant remember when was the last time you were literally chewing on plastic bags like the man in Figure 1? Well, its just an exaggerated picture of course! But still, it is true that you are always ingesting that tiny little bit of plastics in every meal, every sip of water you’ve drank.

According to a study done in 2018 (Mason, Welch and Neratko, 2018),  259 analysed samples taken from bottled waters whose brands are among the most popular and widely available in the world contained an average of 325 microplastics particles per litre of water.

If you are not one of those who drank bottled water often, you might be slightly better off in your microplastic ingestion rate. I repeat “slightly better off“.

From a research study commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature and University of Newcastle, it was discovered that on average, people could be ingesting 5g of plastic every week, in the air they breathe, the food they eat but most importantly, the water they drink.  To put in perspective, that is equivalent to a credit card.

Figure 2: Summary of Your Plastic Ingestion

Thankfully in Singapore, our drinking water is generally free of microplastic. They are removed via reverse osmosis membranes during the treatment process (AI-LIEN, 2019) and subsequently removed as sludge and incinerated. However, a small amount of microplastics are still discharged as effluent into the sea as the membrane efficiency is not 100% (Poerio, Piacentini and Mazzei, 2019). At the moment, PUB is exploring the option of incorporating membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology to further improve the microplastic removal rate. Not sure what MBR is about, it is just the incoporation of biological catalyst to catalyst the breakdown of microplastics , improving the efficiency of the reverse osmosis process (Dialynas and Diamadopoulos, 2009).

In summary, what can you do to help yourself and the environment at least within the comfort of your house (Renonation, 2019)?

1. Use garment and bed linen made of natural material such as cotton and avoid overwashing items as each wash can shed a substantial amount of microplastics from fabrics.

2. Reduce the use of personal care and cosmetic products with microbeads. These microbeads contribute to microplastic pollution when discharged into the sea.

3. Reduce the use of disposable wet wipes as they are often made from polyester, polypropene or a mixture of plastics and natural fibres.

4. Reduce the use of teabags and opt for lose-leaf tea instead  – you will be surprised to know that teabags are often made of plastic polymer to a certain extent.

5. Of course there are many more things you can do at an individual level and Google will be your best friend for that! Whats more important is to make a conscious effort and start doing our part for our environment as early as you can because

 

Every Small Effort Counts.

 

 

References:

  1. Shutterstock.com. 2020. Man Holds Plastic Bag His Mouth Stock Photo (Edit Now) 1509928004. [online] Available at: <https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-holds-plastic-bag-his-mouth-1509928004> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
  2. Mason, S., Welch, V. and Neratko, J., 2018. Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water. Frontiers in Chemistry, 6.
  3. AI-LIEN, C., 2019. How Much Plastic Does A Person Ingest Weekly? A Credit Card’S Worth In Weight On Average. [online] The Straits Times. Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/this-could-be-the-amount-of-plastic-people-eat-each-week> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
  4. Poerio, Piacentini and Mazzei, 2019. Membrane Processes for Microplastic Removal. Molecules, 24(22), p.4148.
  5. Dialynas, E. and Diamadopoulos, E., 2009. Integration of a membrane bioreactor coupled with reverse osmosis for advanced treatment of municipal wastewater. Desalination, 238(1-3), pp.302-311.
  6. Renonation.sg. 2019. [online] Available at: <https://www.renonation.sg/5-surprising-things-you-are-doing-at-home-that-contribute-to-the-massive-microplastic-pollution/> [Accessed 22 July 2020].