When Hurricane Larry made landfall in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2021, the powerful storm brought heavy rain and winds across the province, as well as millions of microplastic particles originating from the Atlantic Ocean, Dalhousie University researchers say. said.
When Hurricane Larry made landfall in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2021, the powerful storm brought heavy rain and winds across the province, and released millions of microplastic particles from the Atlantic Ocean, researchers at Dalhousie University said. discovered.
Tony Walker, a professor at Dalhousie’s School of Resources and Environmental Studies, said in an interview: “We have a saying…It’s raining for cats and dogs.” “But now it’s raining cats, dogs, and microplastics.”
Lally provided researchers with a unique opportunity because hurricanes never crossed land after forming off the west coast of Africa until they made landfall in Canada. However, the storm passed through a swath of the North Atlantic where thousands of tons of trash had accumulated.
“What was important about this hurricane was that normally hurricanes pass through the Caribbean and then through Florida and the United States, and it probably contained microplastics, and those microplastics came from land. “That means it’s very difficult to tell if it’s coming from plastic or ocean sources,” Walker said.
“Larry never made landfall…so the only place those microplastics could have come from was the North Atlantic garbage patch.”
As soon as the storm’s path became clear, two students, Anna Ryan and Amber LeBlanc, quickly moved from the rally to collect rainwater. To avoid further plastic contamination of the samples, they used cylindrical glass containers and even wore cotton clothing, Walker said.
The storm made landfall near Great Bona Cove as a Category 1 hurricane on September 11, 2021, with wind speeds of 130 km/h and gusts in excess of 180 km/h.
The researchers collected rainwater samples from September 9th to September 12th of that year. A new sample was taken every 6 hours, 11 in total. They collected an average of 20,000 microplastic particles per square meter per day before and after Larry’s death. At the height of the storm, that number increased significantly to nearly 115,000 pieces per square meter per day.
“So it was actually five times higher during the storm,” Walker said.
Walker said the rally’s trajectory and all the precautions researchers have taken make him confident that the microplastics could only have come from the ocean’s waste vortex, not from North America.
The area of Newfoundland and Labrador is approximately 405,000 square kilometers. Around 115,000 microplastic particles per square meter at the height of the rally means an astronomical amount of pollution.
Microplastic particles are less than 5 millimeters long, so small that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. They originate from the deterioration of other large plastic products and are found in every environment on Earth.
The risks they pose to human, animal, and ecosystem health remain poorly understood. For example, researchers say these particles are small enough to contaminate groundwater.
The study further states: “Due to their small size and already suspended in the air, microplastics can enter living organisms, including humans, through breathing, and their health effects are still largely unknown.” It is also pointed out that
Mr Walker said it was important for the public to be aware of how widespread microplastic pollution was.
“I think it’s important now for the public to realize that microplastic pollution exists everywhere,” Walker said. “Knowledge is really important because we can help change decision-makers and empower them to make really important decisions to curb plastic production.”
The study’s conclusions were published in the scientific journal Nature in November.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2023.
Jean-Benoit Legault, Canadian Press
