You Can’t Spell Glitter Without Litter

Anthony is one very angry cuttlefish today. Why? According to the researchers, 1.9 million tonnes of paint end up in the oceans and waterways every year, which represents 58% of all the microplastics in the water, and outweighs other sources of microplastics, including textile fibres and tyre dust. Paint particles are part of the increasingly important microplastics (MPs) pollution of our oceans. They contain polyurethanes, polyesters, polyacrylates, polystyrenes, alkyls and epoxies. In spite of their prevalence, paint fragments are often excluded from MP audits. Glitters – microplastics, tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters long that can harm aquatic life in our lakes, rivers and oceans – is sold to the automotive paint indistry and is also used as a paint for planes or boats for their shiny finish and to attract fishermen buyer’s to a good-looking boat and to hide the scratches and scuffs associated with hard fishing the boat will endure. There is also some belief that the reflection of the glitter will attract fish. In the ocean, microplastics can be mistaken for fish eggs and ingested by marine wildlife. These tiny particles can become trapped in their stomach, causing malnutrition and weight loss. They may also cause reduced feeding rates and lower rates of reproduction in some species. The degree of these effects, however, typically varies between species and stages of their life cycle.