Microplastics ... ubiquitous and alarming

Wait, what was that?  Groundwater has been found to contain microplastics?  Isn't that the fibers that come off our polyester clothes when we wash them?  How would that get in groundwater?  The video below, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, explains WHAT microplastics are.... and lists some of the sources.

As part of their work in sampling springs in northwestern Illinois, LWV Jo Daviess County (Galena) collected water samples from six springs in their area which were later tested for microplastic contamination.   The results were published in the January 2019 edition of the journal Groundwater, and showed that microplastics are indeed getting into our groundwater.  This article postulates that the source of the microplastics is septic tank effluent, based on analogous research into surface water contamination.  

Other recent research, this time in Austria, found microplastic particles in human waste.  Pollution is around us, and in us.   As Walt Kelly said so long ago, "we have met the enemy, and he is us".    Is us, and in us....

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LWV UMRR congratulates LWV Jo Daviess County for this recognition of their work, while we are very sad at the findings. ​