Increasing Microplastics Concentration in River Ganga

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According to the recent study, various stretches of Ganga have been polluted with Microplastics.

Key Findings

• The Ganga is heavily polluted with microplastics at Varanasi, Haridwar and Kanpur.
• Varanasi showed the maximum load of microplastics in the water of the Ganga, as compared to the other two cities.
  • This might be due to cumulative downstream pollution as well as industrial and human activities. 
• Major reason for Microplastic pollution is:
  • Municipal discharge like sewage
  • Industrial discharges like that from tanneries and other industries like textiles, etc
• The study analysed the types of microplastics present in the Ganga. 
  • Ethylene Vinyl is particularly suited for food, drugs and cosmetic packaging.
  • Polyacetylene is used as a doping agent in the electronics industry. 
  • Polypropylene is also used in packaging, plastic sheets, fibre, fabrics, rope, etc. 
  • PIP is mainly used in footwear and baby bottle nipples.
  • Polyamide, commonly known as nylon, is used as a natural fibre and as metal wires in clothing and industry. 
  • All these and 36 other types were found in the samples with variations in presence from site to site.

Microplastics

• They are plastics that are less than 5 millimetres in size but are a major source of marine pollution. 
• It is non-degradable plastics that often entered the Ganga through industrial waste or packaging of religious offerings.
• They are insoluble in water.

Impacts

• Polluting water channels:
  • Rivers, water pipelines are being toxicated by the presence of microplastics in them. This water is used for cooking, drinking,washing etc.
• Agriculture:
  • Same river water is used for irrigation allowing these particles to enter crops and food.
  • Microplastics in river water can cause toxicity through various means. 
  • Not only are these microplastics toxic themselves, they also have a tendency to absorb various toxins present in water, including harmful chemicals.
• Through rivers to sea: 
  • Once these substances reach the sea, they’re ingested by fauna (especially plankton, invertebrates, fish, seagulls, sharks, whales and dolphins) and can alter the food chain. 
  • According to the environmental research institution ISPRA, 15 to 20 per cent of marine species that end up on our tables contain microplastics.
  • According to researchers from the National University of Ireland, who fished mesopelagic species that live from 200 to 1000 metres deep in the North Sea, this concentration reaches 73 per cent.
• Genetic modification diseases in humans:
  • The pollutants released by microplastics can be ingested and absorbed by humans. 
  • These can interfere with the human endocrine system and produce genetic modifications.

Sources of Microplastics

• Global plastic production: 
  • It went from 1.5 million tonnes to more than 280 million tonnes from the 1930s to the first decade of the 2000s (with a 38 per cent growth in the last ten years). 
  • The consequences are obvious: as more plastic is used, more is thrown into the sea, directly or indirectly.
• Marine Environment: 
  • Various shapes and forms of plastic are present in marine environments: bags, microbeads, packaging, construction coating, polystyrene containers, tape and fishing equipment. 
• Oxidation tank and sewage sludge: 
  • Water depuration systems can trap plastic and fragments of various sizes through oxidation tanks or sewage sludge
  • Nevertheless, a large portion of microplastics manage to pass through this filtration system and reach seas and oceans after being thrown into rivers.
• Cosmetics and make-up:
  • During the 1990s, cosmetics and make-up manufacturers started to use “microbeads” in skin detergents, toothpastes and shaving foams. 
  • In the second half of the 2000s, investigations have found these plastic microspheres in public water systems and in nature, ultimately ending up in the water that runs from our taps.
• Clothes and synthetic materials:
  • The fibres in synthetic materials contain large amounts of microplastics that then end up in wastewater and aquatic environments. 
• Mobility and tyres:
  • The external part of a tyre is made from synthetic polymers mixed with rubber and other additives. 
  • According to research carried out by the IUCN, a large number of microplastics are created by the friction of tyres on asphalt. 
  • The plastic fibres released are then carried into marine environments by wind or rain. 
  • The research also explains that road signs (made with thermoplastic)release small particles under certain weather conditions.
• Navigation and fishing
  • Ships still cause very large amounts of marine waste: 
    • Even though an international agreement that forbids fishing boats from abandoning fishing nets and plastic entered into force in 1988, the amount of plastic left at sea was around 6.5 million tonnes at the start of the 1990s.

Challenges

• Lack of proper definition:  The lack of solid definition of what can be considered as microplastic makes it difficult to compare the results obtained in different investigations
• Lack of Technology: Lack of technology that effectively retains this kind of material at wastewater facilities is need of the hour
• Lacking exhaustive data: With greater research and data, water-management experts can set thresholds for microplastics in water, beyond which it would be considered unsafe for drinking or use in agriculture.

Indian Initiative on Microplastics Pollution

• India and Norway have pledged to work together to address the issue of marine plastic litter and microplastics. 
• More than 20 States and Union Territories have joined the fight to beat the plastic pollution, announcing a ban on single-use plastics such as carry bags etc.
• Global efforts like “Beat Plastic Pollution” to address plastic pollution. 

Way Ahead

• Development of standard methods: Standard methods for measuring microplastic particles, including nanoplastics in water should be developed to improve the quality of studies and enable researchers to compare and reproduce results. 
• Improved understanding of sources of microplastics into fresh water: Although surface run-off and wastewater effluent are considered the main sources of microplastics into fresh water, better data are required to quantify their contributions relative to other inputs and identify the original sources of contamination through  these pathways. This may require establishing reliable methods to track origins and identify major sources of microplastics in freshwater. 
• Better understanding of overall microplastic exposures in the environment: A better understanding  of occurrence in these environmental  compartments,  including quality of  these  studies, will be  useful  in articulating relative exposure through drinking-water compared to other sources.
• Segregation of the wastes at source: More focus on single use plastics into usable recycled products using low cost technology.
• Responsibility of manufacturers:There  should be a way for the manufacturer/seller responsibility to recycle the used plastic products from the consumers through incentives/caution money deposit schemes through public participatory approach.
• National Marine Litter policy: A policy needs to be framed to control and manage the litter at the land boundary as it is impossible to remove the litter once it enters the marine environment.

Source: TH+DTE