Microplastics more likely to affect terrestrial, freshwater environments than oceans – ECHA

LONDON (ICIS)–Microplastics added to products are more likely to be released to, and accumulate in, terrestrial and freshwater environments rather than oceans, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) said on Thursday.

The European Commission – the EU’s executive body – has asked ECHA to investigate whether an EU-wide restriction for intentionally added microplastics is warranted.

“We have identified diverse sources of microplastics to the environment from intentional uses in cosmetics, detergents, other household products, paints, and agricultural uses, among others,” said ECHA’s senior scientific officer Peter Simpson.

“Many of these microplastics are washed down the drain at the point of use. Due to how wastewater is treated in the EU, these microplastics will not typically be released directly to aquatic environments, but are more likely to concentrate in sewage sludge that is frequently applied to agricultural soils as a fertiliser in many member states.”

Simpson added that he is deeply concerned about the persistence of microplastics, saying that some of them have half-lives estimated to be thousands of years.

“This means their accumulation in agricultural land is a concern because we cannot currently assess the risks to the environment resulting from such long-term accumulation and exposure.”

ECHA added that it expects to finalise its restriction proposal on microplastics at the beginning of 2019, and that the final opinion of the committees should be sent to the Commission by April 2020.

Microplastics are particles of plastic material, smaller than 5mm, which can be unintentionally formed through the degradation of larger pieces of plastic, including synthetic textiles.

They can also be deliberately manufactured and intentionally added to products for a specific purpose, for example, as exfoliating beads in facial or body scrubs.