Traces of tiny plastic found in Storm Lake

Thought to have come from pavement markings | Promise Shown for Bioplastics

Water samples of Storm Lake show evidence of trace amounts of microplastic polluting the water.

Ben Maas, an environmental science professor at BVU, told The Storm Lake Times the microplastic levels, albeit small, are detectable and stem probably from paint chips on pavement.

“We haven’t found a lot, which I guess is a good thing,” says Maas. “Probably the most common plastic we found was parking lot paint, little flakes of paint, when it gets old, washes off in the parking lot into the lake.”

Microplastic is tiny pieces of plastic debris that break down into smaller and smaller pieces until “at a certain point, it just stops breaking down,” Maas says. Microplastic is typically defined as anything smaller than a fifth of an inch in diameter.

While the study of microplastic and its impacts is a relatively new field of research, Maas says microplastic could have a negative effect on the food chain. Lower food chain animals often mistake microplastic for food. A rising concern is the amount of plastic we consume through the food chain.

“If you have a small creature called a zooplankton that eats microplastics and then is eaten by a fish and that fish is eaten by you, you’re potentially ingesting microplastics,” Maas says. “We don’t know how common or how pervasive they are in the environment.”

It isn’t just microplastics in the lake. Fishing line, water bottles, and six-pack rings are a problem, globally.

An emerging solution scientists have been researching is the efficacy of bio-based plastics, often called bioplastics, in place of traditional plastic. The Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, a partnership between Iowa State University, Washington State University, North Dakota State University and University of Georgia and industry members, are developing products from agriculture and forestry feedstocks that could one day supplant traditional plastic.

David Grewell, the center’s director out of NDSU, says they have a plethora of projects they are working on including trash bags, bottles that hold carbonated beverages, and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), which is plastic used for Legos and some electronics.

“Our goal is to get sustainable materials into production,” says Grewell. “We have projects focused on replacing plastic and ongoing projects that are fully bio-based.”

Iowa has a unique stake in the industry because of its agriculture. CB2 ISU Site Director Eric Cochran says the Tall Corn State has an opportunity to lead the market.

“There’s good reason to build it here in Iowa,” Cochran says.

Cochran gives the example of farmers can grow the corn, someone else extracts the valuable chemical, the rest of the stock is left behind to enrich the soil, and then the chemical is taken to someone else to refine and put to use. It creates jobs, produces a new product, generates revenue, and stimulates the state’s  economy.

“And that’s just one example of how you can add value all the way from the people that are putting the seeds into the soil to the industry folks that are going to be selling the product,” says Cochran.

Maas agrees bioplastics is a viable alternative to the petroleum-based plastic, but he worries about balancing environmental benefits with marketability.

“There’s some plastics that will just start to degrade at higher temperatures, and there are some that only degrade if they’re exposed to oxygen,” says Maas. “Does it break down too quickly? Does it break down too slowly? And would you pay an extra 50 cents for a biodegradable cup?”

Cochran recognizes the challenges of commercializing bio-based products and plans to address them.

“What’s the value proposition? Because nobody’s going to switch just because it’s bio-based,” says Cochran. “At the end of the day, there has to be a performance advantage or a cost advantage or both. And the advantage has to be big enough to overcome the natural resistance to change.”

*Originally published in The Storm Lake Times.