Water Wheel Sept/Oct 2020: Water And The Environment Microplastics

Abstract

Should we be worried about an ever-growing volume of microscopic plastic particles building up in South Africa’s rivers, lakes or tap water? Can these tiny fragments of synthetic pollution harm our health and other life forms? This is the thrust of a series of local research projects initiated by the Water Research Commission to measure the impacts of very small particles of plastic in the country’s freshwater environments. The scope of the research was set out in a recent article in the SA Journal of Science by WRC research managers, Drs Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa and Nonhlanhla Kalebaila. They note that plastic products are now ubiquitous, with production of this synthetic material increasing from just 1.5 million tons in the 1950s to approximately 322 million tons today. On the African continent, South Africa tops the list with a production of about 8 987 kilotons of plastic, followed by Egypt (3 977 kilotons) and Nigeria (2 308 kilotons). On a per capita basis, this translates into South Africans consuming more than twice as much plastic compared to people in Nigeria, Kenya or Ghana.

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