Shocking levels of microplastic pollution have been found in wetlands on the edge of an industrial area in Adelaide, with the source being plastic production factories and catchment runoff.
The results are our largest found so far since starting to sample in the wetlands since 2019. AUSMAP Director, Dr Michelle Blewitt adds, "The pollution has been going on for years, with little action from environment protection authorities and factory owners. Over 796,000 pieces per square metre, which are long-lasting and accumulating every year."
These levels of microplastics pollution are a continuous danger to fish and birdlife in the Barker Wetlands (and adjoining waterways) and contribute to the microplastic load that is being absorbed by the human population.
Recently the plastic factory at Kilburn, a major source of the pollution, was granted $20m to upgrade its recycling operations, targeting soft plastics. Jeff Angel, Executive Director at Total Environment Centre, of which AUSMAP is a project, emphasises that “This welcome development must be accompanied by guarantees that the pollution will cease via conditions imposed in the grant agreement, EPA licence and development consent.”
In a Yahoo article published yesterday, EPA SA responded with a statement that said "microplastics are an area of concern for many environment protection authorities across the world and the wetlands are designed to help manage pollution, and keep it away from beaches."
Total Environment Centre considers the claim by the EPA that the pollution sent into the wetlands is being effectively treated laughable. There are no interception traps at facilities or even monitoring. At AUSMAP, we believe that action at source to filter out microplastics from the industrial area and urban runoff in the catchment needs to be taken, rather than filling up these wetlands with plastic pollution.
Barker Inlet is not only a constructed wetland, but also has conservation values that are used by native aquatic species and birdlife and by people for swimming and fishing. The Port Environment Centre, with whom we have worked together to continuously sample this region, states that the area is home to 50 species of local terrestrial plants, 12 aquatic plants, 130 bird species, including migratory ones from the Northern Hemisphere, and other animals such as the rakali, and Murray short-necked turtle.
The microplastic pollution found in Barker Inlet is coming from pellet runoff from the factory and wind blown escapes and urban runoff. Dr Michelle Blewitt has been sampling for microplastics in the region personally, working very closely with Port Adelaide Enfield council to try to locate the source of the plastics. She wants AUSMAP supporters to know that, "seeing so much microplastic in the vegetation and sediment in this vital wetland sanctuary is appalling. It’s gone on for far too long. We need to have a statewide-initiative to tackle the issue, not just from one or more councils. The only solution is to locate the sources and stop it before it enters the stormwater network."
Due to the extreme loads of microplastics in South Australia, we added a new colour category to our scale for extreme loads over 10,000 pieces of microplastics per square metre, a rating that Barker Inlet and West Lakes continuously exceeds. AUSMAP has tracked back the source of microplastics in multiple microplastic hotspots around the country, even triggering action by NSW EPA. You can read more about the source tracking project that we undertook in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney here.
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