Plastic Waste Also Present in the Great Lakes

The Great Lakes - the largest body of freshwater in the world - is now contaminated with plastic debris, according to a recent study.

Researchers say that most of the debris go unnoticed as they are very small, with 85 percent of particles collected from water samples being smaller than two-tenths of an inch.

The study was presented at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

"The massive production of plastic and inadequate disposal has made plastic debris an important and constant pollutant on beaches and in oceans around the world, and the Great Lakes are not an exception," said Lorena M. Rios Mendoza, Ph.D., who spoke on the topic at the meeting.

The study found 1,500 and 1.7 million of these small plastic particles per square mile. Rios said that plastic production has increased by 500 percent since the 1980s and that these debris make up the largest source of pollution in the oceans.

"The main problem with these plastic sizes is its accessibility to freshwater organisms that can be easily confused as natural food and the total surface area for adsorption of toxins and pseudo-estrogens increases significantly," Rios said in a news release.

Plastic debris in oceans is well-documented, with most of the debris coming from bags, cans and other trash along with fish lines. Another source is synthetic fabric and cleansers.

The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" was first described by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1988, and shows the severity of pollution in the Pacific.