Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1182394
t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 9 31 They have a lot of activity, too," Mancini said. "The thing is, though, they can make plastic that doesn't have endocrine-disrupting issues, but getting the industry to convert is a different question." Mancini said that, personally, he's removed as much plastic from his home as possible, but with microplastics invading the water and food supply, that act could be compared to a drop in the ocean. Still, it's a start—and every gesture counts. Van Houtan believes the MBARI study may help target next steps for reducing microplastics. "One of the things that was pretty prominent in our results was that 40 percent of the materials that we were able to identify to a specific plastic polymer were from PET—that's the triangle with the number '1' inside that you see in recycling. It's polyethylene terephthalate, which is very common in single-use consumer products like food containers, beverage containers or things like ketchup bottles or soda bottles. So that's something we can change," Van Houtan said. "With such a large, geo- politically entrenched problem like this, there's probably not going to be a silver bullet. However, we do know that if we stop producing and using these materials, that will stop the flow." While the MBARI study did look at common materials used in the local fisheries and maritime opera- tions in Monterey Bay to try to determine if the pollution was originating locally, Van Houtan said, researchers did not find much similarity between those materials and the microplastics they pulled from the ocean. He also said that while he believed much of the plastic they found originated from land, a significant amount came from worldwide dumping of trash directly into the ocean. The group measured the water column in two different locations and found more plastic further offshore than they did near the shore. "We have a reckoning to make with our use of plastics in the United States. We've become so used to these materials because they're durable and they're very useful … but it's time, and we especially need to start with these single-use products. There's just simply no need to be using things and throwing them away like this," Van Houtan said. "The ocean is obviously a place where everyone likes to recreate and surf and fish and have fun, but it also regulates our climate, it also produces protein for billions of people on this planet, and we can't take it for granted and we can't keep throwing our trash in it and expect it to keep taking care of us in the way it has. We have to do a better job."