3 minute read
Microplastic Pollution Solution
Plastic pollution is not a myth. It is a common narrative. For most it has become background noise due to the overpowering influx of information and stories surrounding the matter. Many of us are well aware, however, that our planet has a very big and very real plastic problem.
The main problem branches out into smaller and smaller dilemmas (as most global issues do). One of these dilemmas is actually caused by particles smaller than small. They are physically tiny yet the impact is astronomical. This dilemma is known as microplastics.
Microplastics are defined as tiny fragments of any type of plastic which are less than 5 mm in length. Their minute size poses the greatest risk to the environment due to the difficulty of filtering them out of the ocean – sadlythe final resting place for most debris and garbage. The fact that the tiny particles are now available to a broader range of species is their main potential and one of our greatest threats. They enter the food chain right at the bottom and can embed themselves into animal tissue completely undetected. Although currently there is not a great deal of long-term research available, studies have proven that microplastics can be carcinogenic and thus potentially very harmful for human life.
The 2019 winner of the Google Science Fair has gone ahead and developed a method to solve this problem for humanity. A young Irishman called Fionn Ferreira was at his local beach when he noticed a rock with remnants of an oil spill on it. Small plastic particles seemed to be stuck to the oily surface. He realised the implication and decided to investigate.
After various experiments he stumbled upon something called ferrofluid and an idea from an article written by Dr Arden Warner. In very simple terms it is a liquid containing a magnetic suspension, which surprisingly enough attracts microplastics.
In fact it is extremely simple chemistry based on the concept of polarity. Plastic particles are non-polar, and the oil element of the ferrofluid is also non-polar. If you don’t know much about chemistry, an easy summary is that non-polar materials attract other non-polar materials.
Fionn added oil to a suspension containing a known concentration of microplastics. The plastics migrated into the layer of oil or, essentially, this liquid magnet. He then added magnetite powder which binds itself to the oil and plastic. The plastic/oil/magnetite mixture, now a ferrofluid, was then simply removed via magnetism leaving behind clean, gleaming water. If this is confusing, here it is in one simplified sentence: the oil attracted the microplastics due to a chemical process and the immersion of a magnet sucked it all up.
Although his tests included plastics from different sources (e.g. plastic bottles, microbeads from skin-care products, car tyres, etc.), they proved that 87–96 % of microplastics can be removed from water with this method.
Although not a brand-new idea, its application and the results are phenomenal. Plastic is a complex problem. It is an essential part of most people’s lives. Many countries are slowly banning certain types of plasticsand this is undoubtedly an excellent start. But banning plastic completely will have a ripple effect of smaller problems. For example, if we were to ban the plastic bottles that shampoo comes in – what would be an alternative? How about a glass bottle? The material alone as well as the manufacturing process make glass more expensive. Plus, it is substantially heavier than plastic and so transport costs will increase. Are you willing to pay more for your handy old shampoo? Expense aside, how will you squeeze the last bits of the shampoo out? What if you drop the bottle in the shower?
There are countless examples and the major conclusion remains that plastic is convenient and cheap and replacing it might create more headaches than imagined. However, it is polluting the world on a monumental scale and faster than we can comprehend. Inaction is no longer plausible.
There are a million ways forward to tackle the plastic pollution problem, but first and foremost there needs to be one united, colossal, global clean-up. That much is abundantly clear. We must rid the oceans and the landfills of all types and sizes of plastic, including microplastics. Pioneer Fionn Ferriera, at 19 years old, has paved the way with a simple, yet effective method. In 2020 he founded a business called Fionn & Co., which focuses on microplastic removal technology. There can only be success from this point on.
Daniela Steenkamp
