Microplastics are persistent across the Delaware River watershed, including in the Philadelphia region, according to a new report by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center.
The nonprofit worked with researchers at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and found microplastics in every sample taken from 22 waterways, including the Delaware River, the Schuylkill River and the Brandywine Creek.
The Delaware River watershed provides drinking water to 14 million people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and it is home to thousands of species, from trout to river otter.
“The results of this study should set off alarms for all residents of the watershed and concerned citizens who love our rivers, who love our streams and who care about our environment,” said Faran Savitz, a zero-waste advocate at PennEnvironment. “The staggering amount of microplastics we found likely means that no river, no lake and no stream in the watershed is free from this contamination.”
More than 400 million metric tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year, ultimately making their way to landfills and incinerators. Plastics do not biodegrade organically, but instead break down over time into smaller fragments called microplastics, which persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in living organisms.
The particles are also discharged from industrial facilities and wastewater treatment plants into local waterways. They can also enter waterways from the application of biosolids on land, stormwater runoff and the dumping of trash.
People can also be directly exposed to microplastics by using plastic bottles, or by wearing cosmetics and synthetic clothing.
