The social and ecological impact of microplastics in the North Pacific Ocean and its correlations to human health

Introduction

Plastic pollution has become a widespread concern in recent years. It is everywhere – in the oceans, atmosphere, and food chain. As a society, plastic has become a dependency and the issue is rapidly increasing. The dilemma of this fact is that plastic does not biodegrade, instead it decomposes into minuscule particles that induce a threat to marine life, and in return, threaten human lives as well. These tiny particles are termed microplastics. In concern, this raises questions about the impacts they have on food for human consumption. Although exposure to microplastics is apparent, it only recently gained notoriety – due to this, there are not enough studies or risk assessments being performed to know the depth of its influence. This proposal reviews the environmental norms and public risk perceptions of microplastics in the North Pacific Ocean, while attempting to define the impacts they have on the physical environment and the food chain, which eventually affects human health.

Social-Ecological Theory

Social-Ecological Theory plays a main role in understanding the complexity of humans’ awareness on environmental risks. Bronfenbrenner’s theory argues that the environment each individual grows up in affects every facet of their lives (Kramm & Völker, 2017). Looking at microplastics as an environmental risk from a social-ecological perspective, there are four main characteristics of research:

The production of risks by societies is determined by the distribution of pollution, contamination, and hazardous chemicals and waste. These productions of risks are then evaluated for the potential role of microplastics as chemical vectors, in consideration of the social responses from society about the issue (Catarino et al., 2021).  Alas, the problem with risk management is the outcome of mismeasuring known risks and the struggle to communicate concerns.

Public Risk Assessments

Although numerous people in the U.S. have heard about microplastics, risk perception varies based on different socioeconomic backgrounds. Studies suggest that people's socioeconomic status influences how they perceive risks, irrespective of gender (Catarino et al., 2021). In particular, people that live in lower income or class status are often consigned to living and working environments that have a higher risk for pollution, stress, injury, and other risks that result in the spread of various diseases. 






A significant way for society to assess risks is by mass media, ultimately prompting the public’s attention with several topics on particular environmental risks. These risks include multiple environmental hazards - the main one being plastic waste, as well as fragmentations of plastic waste (Mitrano & Wohlleben, 2020).  However, microplastic risk assessment typically encounters biases due to knowledge gaps on both exposure and threat evaluations, which opens the door for different narratives. For instance, microplastics detected in organisms collected from the North Pacific Ocean confirms exposure, but evidence of toxic effects is inconsistent, resulting in the public perceiving risks differently than scientists (Catarino et al., 2021). With an increase of more scientific research and published factual information, public risk assessments on microplastics can change for the better.

Pacific Trash Vortex

The image on the right is a satellite view of the Pacific Ocean's Trash Vortex. The vortex stretches from the West Coast of Northern America to Japan. It consists of the Western garbage patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern garbage patch, which is located near the states of California and Hawaii (Evers, 2022). The garbage patch is referred to as a vortex of plastic debris that is broken down into tiny particles in the ocean, which is connected to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines a gyre as an enormous system of swirling ocean currents. Because microplastics are exposed to numerous environmental forces during the production process, they are generally linked to crude oil, iron oxides, organic pollutants, bacteria, and viruses, which are then subjected to ocean currents and are thrusted around (Li et al., 2021). The microplastics in the Pacific trash vortex accumulate on or near the surface of the North Pacific Ocean, which then creates a surface that blocks the sunlight from reaching plankton and algae below (Evers, 2022). 

In the Pacific Ocean alone there is an estimated minimum of 21,290 tons of microplastics floating around and 33,090 plastic particles every square kilometer in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (Stenger et al., 2021). Hence, the massive amount of microplastics in the ocean absorb and leak micropollutants that have a direct correlation to hazardous human health impacts. These are consumed by marine life and then potentially consumed by humans through the food chain without consumer knowledge. 

The Dynamic Interactions Between Microplastics, Marine Life, and Human Health

Although there is a current knowledge gap for microplastic exposure and toxicology, logic does not coincide with the belief that microplastics are not a cause for concern (Leslie & Depledge, 2020). In a lab study, different types and sizes of microplastics were found in Pacific Oceanic fish and the toxicological effects were documented. For example, polyethylene, the most common form of plastic, caused an overall increase in mortality, decrease in activity, intestinal injuries, and abnormal proliferation of sperm cells in male fish species (Li et al., 2021).  Unfortunately, the polymer chains of plastics break down and can enter the human body in numerous ways, from drinking contaminated water to ingesting a toxic fish that is exposed to the chemicals in microplastics. 










Direct toxicity from microplastics include:

These toxins are directly linked to cancer, birth defects, immune system issues, and childhood developmental problems (Andrews, 2022). Meanwhile, evidence regarding microplastic hazards and epidemiology is actively expanding.


Yet as plastic particles continue to contaminate the North Pacific Ocean’s marine ecosystems and food chain, food intended for human consumption is at risk of safety. Plastic ingestion occurs within different classifications and trophic levels of marine species, including fish, invertebrates, fish-eating birds, and mammals (Smith et al., 2018). Preliminary research exhibited several concerning effects in the human body, including amplified inflammatory responses, chemical transfers of absorbed micro-pollutants, and interference of gut microbiomes, among other impacts.

Research Question and Justification


The purpose of this study intends to explore the social and ecological impacts of microplastics in the North Pacific Ocean and how that correlates to human health. As a pollutant, microplastics have proven to be harmful to the environment, animal health, as well as human health. Ingesting these particles through the contaminated marine food chain further exposes humans to chemicals that are causing various adverse effects. Microplastic pollution is in every single ocean, including the Arctic; reviewing a singular section is significant to gain a factual understanding of its impacts and how that relates to health concerns regarding human and marine life.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework chosen for this proposal is the combination of health and an environmental risk assessment for health and sanitation planning. Essentially, it is an analysis of interrelations between environmental sanitation systems, health status and well-being. This is a collaborative approach that examines comprehensive epidemiological, biomedical, ecological, social, cultural, and economic assessments. The key concepts include eco health, epidemiology, chemical pollutant, ecological risk assessment, risk perception, dynamic interaction, physical environment, and food chain.

References

Andrews, G. (2022, December 17). Plastics in the Ocean Affecting Human Health. Geology and Human Health. https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html

Catarino, A. I., Kramm, J., Volker, C., Henry, T. B., & Everaert, G. (2021, February 16). Risk posed by microplastics: Scientific Evidence and Public Perception. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452223621000237

Ding, J., Sun, C., He, C., Zheng, L., Dai, D., & Li, F. (2022, July 10). Atmospheric Microplastics in the northwestern Pacific Ocean: Distribution, source, and deposition. The Science of the total environment. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35259376/

Evers, J. (Ed.). (2022, June 2). Great Pacific Garbage Patch. National Geographic Society. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-pacific-garbage-patch

Kramm, J., & Völker, C. (2017, July 21). Understanding the risks of microplastics: A Social-Ecological Risk Perspective. Springer Link. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_11

Leslie, H. A., & Depledge, M. H. (2020, September). Where is the evidence that human exposure to microplastics is safe? Environment international. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7319653/

Li, Y., Sun, Y., Li, J., Tang, R., Miu, Y., & Ma, X. (2021, January 1). Research on the Influence of Microplastics on Marine Life. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/631/1/012006

Mitrano, D. M., & Wohlleben, W. (2020, October 21). Microplastic regulation should be more precise to incentivize both innovation and environmental safety. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19069-1#Sec7

Nguyen, V., Nguyen-Viet, H., Pham-Duc, P., & Mcewen, S. (2014, October). Conceptual Framework of the Combination of Health and an Environmental Risk Assessment for Health and Environmental Sanitation Planning. Research Gate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Conceptual-framework-of-the-combination-of-health-and-an-environmental-risk-assessment_fig1_266737503


Smith, M., Love, D. C., Rochman, C. M., & Neff, R. A. (2018, September). Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications for Human Health. Current environmental health reports. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132564/


Stenger, K. S., Wikmark, O. G., Bezuidenhout, C. C., & Molale-Tom, L. G. (2021, December 15). Microplastics Pollution in the Ocean: Potential Carrier of Resistant Bacteria and Resistance Genes. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34562691/


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