Ottawa Riverkeeper conducts macro research on microplastics

On the morning of August 24, an Ottawa Riverkeeper team hit the water to find out more about plastic found in the Ottawa River, as part of their ongoing study of microplastic pollution in the watershed.

“We want to know how big the microplastic problem is in Canada’s capital river, and to investigate the types of microplastics and potential sources of plastics in our watershed to work towards a plastic-free Ottawa River,” said Dr Meaghan Murphy, Staff Scientist at Ottawa Riverkeeper.

In collaboration with Dr Jesse Vermaire at Carleton University and with assistance from more than 20 citizen scientist volunteers from Ottawa Riverkeeper’s Riverwatch program, the group is testing locations spanning over 550 km of the river, from Lake Timiskaming in the north to Hudson, Quebec near the mouth of the river. So far, the study has found microplastics in every sample that has been taken, a result which Dr Murphy describes as “troubling.”

“Microplastic pollution is rampant in our oceans, and recent studies of inland waterways clearly indicate that the problem also extends to our lakes and rivers. However, the extent of the issue in the Ottawa River has never been examined,” said Dr Murphy.

Microplastics – defined as plastic fragments, fibres, and microbeads of less than 5mm in diameter – have a significant negative impact on our aquatic ecosystems. They don’t decompose, are easily carried by currents to new areas, and are too small for most water treatment plants to filter them, making them difficult to clean up. Worryingly, aquatic organisms often ingest microplastics and can transfer them up the food chain, which is especially problematic as plastics also absorb and concentrate many pollutants present in the natural environment.

“Knowledge is power. When you know there’s a problem and can measure it, that spurs action and stewardship. Our goals are to educate people on the ways they can reduce plastic in our waterways and to put pressure on the federal government to pass the microbead ban in a timely fashion, bringing it into effect as soon as possible.”

On June 29, 2016, the federal government did add microbeads to the List of Toxic Substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act with draft regulations on a ban expected this fall.

On the provincial level, the Hull MNA did table a petition last fall that was signed by more than 2,600 residents asking Quebec City to ban microbeads from cosmetic and personal care products.

 

The Minister of Environment David Heurtel responded by saying that a complete study of the situation was required before moving forward and that the federal government was acting on this file.

Microbeads are a type of microplastic found in a wide variety of beauty care products.

Manufactures add them to products to act as a bulking agent, as a binder, to control viscosity, and so on.

Ottawa Riverkeeper argues that the federal legislation does not go far enough “since it only covers microbeads in personal care products used to exfoliate or cleanse, leaving out other sources of microplastics, such as fibres from synthetic clothing and degraded fragments from larger plastic waste – which is in part because those plastics do not necessarily come from sources that are easy to regulate.”

To tackle this issue, the Ottawa Riverkeeper has employed a two-pronged approach in the study. The first was to conduct a survey throughout the watershed, using hand-held testing kits that filtered 100L of water through a special filter paper. Their results were then returned to Dr Jesse Vermaire for analysis.

The testing on August 24 involved a second method, which has been ongoing for the past two weeks: the deployment of a manta trawl, which is being used to test both up and down river of Ottawa’s sewage treatment facilities. The trawl, a large net system with a fine mesh net that attaches to the back of a motorboat, is used to collect surface water samples for scientific study. It allows the filtration of large volumes of water to test for different microplastic concentrations above and below the treatment plants.

Dr Vermaire’s team will also be analyzing the results from the manta trawl. Taken all together, this study will give us a preliminary understanding of the extent of microplastic pollution in the Ottawa River, and is an important first step in our continuing research on microplastic pollution in our watershed, indicated the Ottawa Riverkeeper.